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
Ars moriendi "artis bene moriendi", was composed in 1415 by an anonymous Dominican friar, probably at the request of the Council of Constance (1414–1418, Germany). This was widely read and translated into most West European languages, and was very popular in England, where a tradition of consolatory death literature survived until the 17th century. Works in the English tradition include "The Way of Dying Well" and "The Sick Mannes Salve". In 1650, "Holy Living and Holy Dying" became the "artistic climax" of the tradition that had begun with "Ars moriendi". "Ars Moriendi" was also among the first books printed with movable type