Why did Benedetto Croce separate art from artistic technique?

Benedetto Croce, a prominent Italian philosopher, distinguished art from artistic technique because he defined art fundamentally as "expression" or an intuitive synthesis, rather than a mechanical process or a means to an end.123

For Croce, art is an autonomous category of the spirit—a form of theoretical synthesis that presents an "intuition" of reality in its immediate, concrete particularity. He argued that art is an end in itself, whereas technique (or craft) is merely a means to an end. By separating the two, Croce sought to elevate expression as the single, true aesthetic function, dismissing attempts to reduce art to representation, classification, or the mere application of technical skills.234

He maintained that while an artist must possess a moral personality and a connection to the human experience to create meaningful work, the "spark of poetical genius" is the sine qua non of art. Without this intuitive expression, technical skill is simply "fuel" without a fire to light it. Thus, he rejected the idea of the "pure artist" as a caricature, emphasizing that true art arises from the spirit rather than from technical proficiency alone.4