This chapter examines the discursive processes which contribute to the legitimation of artist practice, focusing on the language used in artists’ statements and art reviews. Grounded in concepts including conventions (Becker, 1982), framing (Baumann, 2007), and doxa (Bourdieu, 1984), the chapter examines how artists and critics routinely employ specific linguistic patterns to construct artistic value and significance. Using a corpus-based analysis of key verbs, the findings reveal both shared and distinct ways in which these two genres conceptualise art and artistic practice. Artists’ statements, for example, emphasise personal dedication, emotional engagement, and exploration, using verbs like “strive” and “explore” to align their practice with deeply embedded conventions that associate artistic legitimacy with passion and discovery. In contrast, art reviews focus on spatial and contextual dimensions, employing verbs like “feature” and “display” to situate artworks within broader cultural, thematic, and institutional frameworks. The study demonstrates how these discourses reinforce “aesthetic doxa”, the taken-for-granted assumptions about art, through the often unconscious reproduction of linguistic norms shaped by the artistic field.