Art is not only a way of expression that allows us to explain a specific lifestyle. It also contributes in a decisive way to the second language teaching/learning process. Learning a language cannot be separated from its cultural background. In a language teaching process, culture is an essential component to promote intercultural competence development. This essay tries to highlight the importance of exposing our students of Spanish as a second language to the Spanish cultural background represented by the different artistic activities as literature, painting, sculpture, architecture, cinema and photography since all of them would transmit some cultural contents of historic and social reference from the target language. On the basis of our teaching responsibilities, we would like to show in this paper the way the concept of art in a second language class is addressed in the main European documents of reference.