Art for art's sake Art for art's sake "Art for art's sake" is the usual English rendering of a French slogan from the early 19th century, "l'art pour l'art", and expresses a philosophy that the intrinsic value of art, and the only "true" art, is divorced from any didactic, moral, or utilitarian function. Such works are sometimes described as "autotelic", from the Greek "autoteles", "complete in itself", a concept that has been expanded to embrace "inner-directed" or "self-motivated" human beings. The term is sometimes used commercially. A Latin version of this phrase ("ARS GRATIA ARTIS") is used as a motto by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and appears
Dei Gratia (brigantine) Dei Gratia (brigantine) Dei Gratia was a Canadian brigantine built in Bear River, Nova Scotia in 1871. The brigantine was named after the Latin phrase for "By the Grace of God". "Dei Gratia" became famous in 1872 when, under the command of David Reed Morehouse, she discovered the mystery ship "Mary Celeste" found sailing abandoned without any crew near the Azores. Morehouse and his crew took the derelict "Mary Celeste" to Gibraltar and claimed the brigantine as salvage. They were at first subjected to suspicion by Gilbraltar's Attorney General but the Vice Admiralty Court later approved their salvage and commended