What is a definition of context in art terms?

Answer 1

The context of a work of art refers to the cultural constraints and expectations that surrounded and influenced the artist's creation. This can include religious beliefs of both the artist and the larger community, the political events of the time and the artist's view of those events, the work of contemporary artists, the cultural values and conflicting perspectives of the work's audience.

This is perhaps easier to see when analyzing literature, because a literary work is frequently directly tied to the events and characters of an author's life. But less obvious are the experimental techniques that constantly influence the conversations among artist contemporaries of any time.