Russian Academy of (the) Art(s)

[milan2003_07]

Dear friends,

Here is the web-site of the school I'd like to ask you about:

http://www.artsacademy.ru/

I wonder what the correct translation is, but I don't need the idiomatic translation, I just need to know which ones are grammatically correct.

1) Russian Academy of Arts

2) Russian Academy of Art

3) Russian Academy of the Arts

4) Russian Academy of the Art

I think #4 is incorrect because we aren't speaking about a particular type of art, but about art in general including architecture, sculpture, painting, restoration, etc. #3, as far as I know, means humanitarian subjects like history, sociology, linguistics, foreign languages, etc. However, I can't find the difference between #1 and #2.

Thanks

 

[Skrej]

You are correct about #4 being incorrect. The only time we'd use 'the art' is a set pattern of 'the art of X', where 'X' is whatever you wish to discuss.

Often, but not always, that construction is used to describe something we normally don't see as "traditional" art - 'the art of shaving', 'the art of war', 'the art of cheating', etc. You will of course see it used for things like "the art of Picasso', or 'the art of clay' - traditional art and artists as well. I seriously doubt you'd ever see it as the title of an academy, but I remain to be proven wrong.

As for #1-3, they're all correct and possible. I don't see much of any difference in meaning between the three. 'Arts' and 'the arts' by some definitions encompass a broader range of subjects, where 'art' is limited to the more traditional fine arts.

This Ngram seems to show them all about equally used.

 

[milan2003_07]

You are correct about #4 being incorrect. The only time we'd use 'the art' is a set pattern of 'the art of X', where 'X' is whatever you wish to discuss.

Often, but not always, that construction is used to describe something we normally don't see as "traditional" art - 'the art of shaving', 'the art of war', 'the art of cheating', etc. You will of course see it used for things like "the art of Picasso', or 'the art of clay' - traditional art and artists as well. I seriously doubt you'd ever see it as the title of an academy, but I remain to be proven wrong.

As for #1-3, they're all correct and possible. I don't see much of any difference in meaning between the three. 'Arts' and 'the arts' by some definitions encompass a broader range of subjects, where 'art' is limited to the more traditional fine arts.

This Ngram seems to show them all about equally used.

ok, I see now.

In fact, the Ngram statistics isn't so important now, I think, because I'd like to know the main difference in grammar and lexicology.

1) Speaking about "arts" and "the arts" - what's the difference? I thought "the arts" meant a set of humanitarian subjects including art, histoty, literature, etc., while "arts" means "art" in the plural form like "different types of arts" including painting, sculpture, architecture, etc.

2) The Academy I'm writing about teaches fine arts and so which option is better "Academy of Arts" or "Academy of Art"

Thanks

 

[Skrej]

Usage varies, but yes, 'the arts' usually refers to areas outside of the fine and visual arts. See this Wikipedia entry for details.

I can't really answer your question about 'Arts' - I think different people would interpret it different ways. Some would consider it synonymous with 'the Arts', while others would consider it synonymous with 'Art'.

If you're writing about a particular academy, I would suggest using the direct translation of the name. Generally we don't idiomatically translate proper names, just adjust slightly for word order in necessary.

I get this slightly flawed translation from Google Translate:

Saint - Petersburg State Academic Institute of Painting , Sculpture and Architecture Repin

I'm guessing a more accurate translation would be the St. Petersburg Repin State Academic Institute of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture. I noticed that the link you provided uses "arts academy", although the actual title uses 'institute'.

As a native speaker of Russian, you of course would be better able to translate the exact name. I gather that the place is named in honor of the artist Illya Repin.

 

[jutfrank]

While I agree with Skrej above, I would say that a basic meaning of arts as in:

martial arts
the dark arts
performing arts

might be something like: a set of skills or an expertise or a learned knowledge in some certain area.