In this research paper for the postgraduate degree of Master of Arts (Hons) (Visual Arts), the author is proposing to investigate the relationship of Nietzsche's division of culture into two principal strains, 'The Apollonian and the Dionysiac', and its application to the art of painting. When Nietzsche wrote the 'Birth of Tragedy' in 1872, from which his division of culture emerged, it was entitled 'The Birth of Tragedy from the Spirit of Music'. Young (1992), also describes music as 'The Dionysian art' in his book 'Nietzsche's Philosophy of Art'. With consideration to changes in art and perception between the latter nineteenth and the twentieth century, a stronger argument for the inclusion of painting as 'a Dionysian art', can be formed. The author also analyses the metaphysical in art and through an examination of the nature of the Dionysiac as described in religious rites as opposed to varying analysis from Nitzsche and his critics / Master of Arts (Hons) (Visual Arts)