Understanding Artwork Categories

This article will offer further insight into the artwork categories available in CMS.

Best practices for applying categories

1. Categories are specific to the medium of each work. Select a medium type from the drop-down list to get started applying categories.
2. Categories range from very broad—Abstract Art, or Lighting—to highly specific—Staged Photography, or Columns and Totems. Balance your choices by selecting one or two each of the specific and broad categories. This helps collectors who want to hone in on a specific work they’re looking for, as well as surfaces the work to those browsing more generally.
3. Quality is better than quantity. Choosing the right categories puts your inventory in front of the collectors looking for them, while categories that are a “stretch” can put your works at a disadvantage.
4. Not sure what a specific category means? Hover your mouse over the category in. question and read the notes located in the sidebar for a helpful definition and information including examples, and do’s and don’ts.

Note: Categories are not available for the “Mixed Media“, and “Fashion Design / Wearable Art” medium types in CMS. Our metadata team found that ~95% of works categorized as Mixed Media should, in fact, have been placed elsewhere (a watercolor and charcoal drawing would be better marked as a "Work on Paper," etc.).

The team also found that tagging a work as “Mixed Media“ was significantly less effective for artwork discoverability when compared to other, more specific medium types such as Painting, Sculpture, etc. We recommend selecting a medium type other than Mixed Media for your works. You will then be able to apply categories – and trust that the works will be widely visible across the site as a result!

How collectors will find your categorized works

When you apply categories to your works, collectors will find them on the Collect page, on category pages via search or when browsing via The Art Genome Project’s categories, and through personalized recommendations.

Continue reading about Artwork Categories with our FAQs article.