User:Tyrenius/Draft 1

This is some brainstorming on the subject...

Notability (visual artists)

Proposal for a guideline to help apply the Wikipedia:Notability guideline to visual artists.

Not all artists are notable. Many of them, both professional and amateur, make a contribution to art without reaching the minimum threshold of notability for an article to be included in an encyclopedia. This page gives some rough guidelines which we might use to decide if an visual artistic topic is notable.

Important note: Failing to satisfy the notability guidelines is not a criterion for speedy deletion. An article that fails to even claim that the subject of the article is notable can be speedily deleted under criterion A7, however. A mere claim of notability, even if contested, may avoid deletion under A7 and require a full Article for Deletion process to determine if the subject of the article is notable.

Many of us who spend a lot of time improving Wikipedia's artistic coverage feel that notability is required for an artistic topic (such as a painter, sculptor, printer, digital artist, conceptual artist, art group or art movement) to deserve an article here. Please note that the failure to meet any of these criteria does not mean an article must be deleted; likewise, the meeting of any of these criteria does not mean that an article must be kept. These are merely rules of thumb which some editors choose to keep in mind when deciding whether or not to keep an article that is on articles for deletion.

Also, please keep in mind that the article in question must actually document that the criterion is true. It is not enough to make vague claims in the article or assert an artist's importance on a talk page or AfD page -- the article itself must document notability.

See also the Wikipedia:Criteria for inclusion of biographies for notability guidelines for biography articles in general.

Criteria for visual artists

There are a lot of artists with articles in the Wikipedia (see Category:Artists).

An artist (note that this includes those working in fields such as video, installation, performance, found art and body art) or art group or movement is notable if he or she meets any one of the following criteria:

• He has been the subject of multiple non-trivial published works whose source is independent from the musician/ensemble itself and reliable.¹
  • This criterion includes published works in all forms, such as newspaper articles, books, magazine articles, and television documentaries ² except for the following:
    • Media reprints of press releases and other promotional material issued by the artist himself, including advertisements.
    • Works comprising merely trivial coverage, such as newspaper articles that simply report show dates or the publications of contact and booking details in directories.

An article in a school or university newspaper (or similar) would generally be considered trivial but should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

The above is the central criterion for inclusion. Below are some criteria. If one is, or more usually several are, fulfilled, it is very likely that sufficient reliable information is available about a given artist or art group.

1. Has had a recognised prize or award at national level.
2. Has won or placed in a major art competition.
3. Has had a significant auction record at a recognised auction house.
4. Has been in international art shows, or has had a nationally recognised show in at least one large or medium-sized country,³ reported in reliable sources.⁴
5. Has had two or more solo shows in a major gallery or one of the more important artist-run spaces (i.e. an artist-run space with a history of more than a few years and a roster of artists, many of which are notable).
6. Is a significant representative or member of a recognised style, group or movement or artistic community, including the local scene of a city; note that the subject must still meet all ordinary Wikipedia standards, including verifiability.
7. Has been featured in an exhibition which has attained notable status (e.g. Sensation (exhibition)).
8. Has a track record of shows, reviews, awards and other activities sufficient to cumulatively create a notable reputation
9. Has had a major presence in a major show or minor presence in a number of major shows.
10. Has been bought by a major collector, museum, company or institution. (But if this is the only claim, it is probably more appropriate to have a mention in the main article and redirect to that page.)
11. Has created a well-known work of art.
12. Has created a prominent work of art such as public sculpture. (But if this is only of interest as a feature of the locality it is probably more appropriate to have a mention in the article on the locality and redirect to that page.)
13. Appears at reasonable length in standard reference works (NB not paid-for entries in vanity reference works).
14. Has a significant place either personally by e.g. through tuition, or through the example of their work, in the development, work or career of a notable artist; note that it is often most appropriate to use redirects in place of articles on minor figures.
15. Is cited in reliable sources as being influential in style, technique, body of work or teaching in a particular artistic genre.
16. Has established a tradition or school in a particular genre.
17. Has composed a number of artistic works that are standard representations of a notable genre, or tradition or school within a notable genre.
18. Has been recognised as significant artist by a notable group, collective or movement either in terms of an exponent or influence.
19. Is frequently covered in publications devoted to a notable specialisation in art
20. In the case of groups or movements: contains at least one artist who is individually notable or who was once a part of or later joined a group or movement that is otherwise notable; note that it is often most appropriate to use redirects in place of articles on side projects, earlier ventures and such.
21. In the case of groups or movements: has achieved recognition for their style, name, method, activities or membership.

Artworks

An artwork must have achieved an appropriate degree of notability in its own right, in order to justify its own article.

Resources

A good online resource for artists is ?

Footnotes

• ^Note 1 : Self-promotion and product placement are not the routes to having an encyclopaedia article. The published works must be someone else writing about the artist. (See Wikipedia:Autobiography for the verifiability and neutrality problems that affect material where the subject of the article itself is the source of the material.) The barometer of notability is whether people independent of the subject itself have actually considered the artist notable enough that they have written and published non-trivial works that focus upon him.
• ^Note 2 : What constitutes a "published work" is deliberately broad.
• ^Note 3 : There are, at present, no precise definitions of a "small", "medium" or "large" country in this context. However, a very limited definition of "small" will generally be used, excluding only a few of the world's smallest countries.

See also

• Wikipedia:Notability