''What Is Art?'' (russian: Что такое искусство? ''Chto takoye iskusstvo?'') is a book by

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

. It was completed in Russian in 1897 but first published in English due to difficulties with the Russian censors. Tolstoy cites the time, effort, public funds, and public respect spent on art and artists as well as the imprecision of general opinions on art as reason for writing the book. In his words, "it is difficult to say what is meant by art, and especially what is good, useful art, art for the sake of which we might condone such sacrifices as are being offered at its shrine". Throughout the book Tolstoy demonstrates an "unremitting moralism", evaluating artworks in light of his radical Christian ethics, and displaying a willingness to dismiss accepted masters, including

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

, and

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian people, Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', origin ...

, as well as the bulk of his own writings. Having rejected the use of beauty in definitions of art (see

aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed t ...

), Tolstoy conceptualises art as anything that communicates emotion: "Art begins when a man, with the purpose of communicating to other people a feeling he once experienced, calls it up again within himself and expresses it by certain external signs". This view of art is inclusive: "jokes", "home decoration", and "church services" may all be considered art as long as they convey feeling. It is also amoral: " elings... very bad and very good, if only they infect the reader... constitute the subject of art".Tolstoy 1995

897 __NOTOC__ Year 897 ( DCCCXCVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – King Lambert II travels to Rome with his mother, Queen Agelt ...

p. 39. Tolstoy also notes that the "sincerity" of the artist – that is, the extent to which the artist "experiences the feeling he conveys" – influences the infection.

Evaluating the content of art

While Tolstoy's basic conception of art is broad and amoral, his idea of "good" art is strict and moralistic, based on what he sees as the function of art in the development of humanity:

just as in the evolution of knowledge – that is, the forcing out and supplanting of mistaken and unnecessary knowledge by truer and more necessary knowledge – so the evolution of feelings takes place by means of art, replacing lower feelings, less kind and less needed for the good of humanity, by kinder feelings, more needed for that good. This is the purpose of art.

Christian art

Tolstoy's analysis is influenced by his radical Christian views (see ''

The Kingdom of God is Within You ''The Kingdom of God Is Within You'' ( pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform rus, Царство Божие внутри вас, Tsárstvo Bózhiye vnutrí vas) is a non-fiction book written by Leo Tolstoy. A Christian anarchist philosophical trea ...

''), views which led him to be excommunicated from the Russian Orthodox Church in 1901. He states that Christian art, rooted in "the consciousness of sonship to God and the brotherhood of men":Tolstoy 1995

p. 130.

can evoke reverence for each man's dignity, for every animal’s life, it can evoke the shame of luxury, of violence, of revenge, of using for one’s pleasure objects that are a necessity for other people, it can make people sacrifice themselves to serve others freely and joyfully, without noticing it.Tolstoy 1995
897 __NOTOC__ Year 897 ( DCCCXCVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – King Lambert II travels to Rome with his mother, Queen Agelt ...
p. 166.

Ultimately, "by calling up the feelings of brotherhood and love in people under imaginary conditions, religious art will accustom people to experiencing the same feelings in reality under the same conditions". Tolstoy's examples: Schiller's ''

The Robbers ''The Robbers'' (', ) is the first drama by German playwright Friedrich Schiller. The play was published in 1781 and premiered on 13 January 1782 in Mannheim, Germany, and was inspired by Leisewitz' earlier play '' Julius of Taranto''. It ...

'',

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

's ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its origin ...

'',

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

's ''

A Tale of Two Cities ''A Tale of Two Cities'' is a historical novel published in 1859 by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. The novel tells the story of the French Doctor Manette, his 18-year-long imprisonment in ...

'' and ''

The Chimes ''The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year In'', commonly referred to as ''The Chimes'', is a novella written by Charles Dickens and first published in 1844, one year after ''A Christmas Carol''. It is th ...

'', Harriet Beecher Stowe's ''

Uncle Tom's Cabin ''Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly'' is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in the U ...

'', Dostoevsky's ''

The House of the Dead ''The House of the Dead'' is a horror-themed light gun shooter video game franchise created by Sega in 1996. Originally released in arcades, it utilizes a light gun on the platform, but can be played with standard controllers on consoles and a ...

'',

George Eliot Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wrot ...

's ''

Adam Bede ''Adam Bede'' was the first novel by Mary Ann Evans ( George Eliot), and was published in 1859. It was published pseudonymously, even though Evans was a well-published and highly respected scholar of her time. The novel has remained in print ...

'',Tolstoy 1995

p. 132. Ge's ''Judgement'', Liezen-Mayer's ''Signing the Death Sentence'', and paintings "portraying the labouring man with respect and love" such as those by Millet, Breton, Lhermitte, and Defregger.Tolstoy 1995

p. 133.

Universal art

"Universal" art illustrates that people are "already united in the oneness of life's joys and sorrows" by communicating "feelings of the simplest, most everyday sort, accessible to all people without exception, such as the feelings of merriment, tenderness, cheerfulness, peacefulness, and so on". Tolstoy contrasts this ideal with art that is partisan in nature, whether it be by class, religion, nation, or style. Tolstoy's examples: he mentions, with many qualifiers, the works of

Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was an Early Modern Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-emin ...

Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...

, Moliere,

Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...

, and

Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

, comparing all of these unfavourably to the story of

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

. In music he commends a violin aria of

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wor ...

, the E-flat major nocturne of Chopin, and "selected passages" from

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...

, Chopin, and Mozart. He also speaks briefly of genre paintings and

landscapes A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the p ...

.Tolstoy 1995

p. 135.

Evaluating style

Obscurity versus accessibility

Tolstoy notes the susceptibility of his contemporaries to the "charm of obscurity".Tolstoy 1995

p. 63. Works have become laden with "euphemisms, mythological and historical allusions", and general "vagueness, mysteriousness, obscurity and inaccessibility to the masses". Tolstoy lambastes such works, insisting that art can and should be comprehensible to everyone. Having emphasised that art has a function in the improvement of humanity – capable of expressing man’s best sentiment – he finds it offensive that artists should be so wilfully and arrogantly abstruse.

Artificiality

One criticism Tolstoy levels against art is that at some point it "ceased to be sincere and became artificial and cerebral", leading to the creation of millions of works of technical brilliance but few of honourable sentiment.Tolstoy 1995

p. 144. Tolstoy outlines four common markers of bad art: these are not however considered the canon or ultimate indicators # Borrowing # Imitation # Effectfulness # DiversionTolstoy 1995

p. 84.

Borrowing

Involves recycling and concentrating elements from other works, typical examples of which are: "maidens, warriors, shepherds, hermits, angels, devils in all forms, moonlight, thunderstorms, mountains, the sea, precipices, flowers, long hair, lions, the lamb, the dove, the nightingale".

Imitation

Imitation is highly descriptive realism, where painting becomes photography, or a scene in a book becomes a listing of facial expressions, tone of voice, the setting, and so on.Tolstoy 1995

p. 86. Any potential communication of feeling is "disrupted by the superfluity of details".

Effectfulness

Reliance on "strikingness", often involving contrasts of "horrible and tender, beautiful and ugly, loud and soft, dark and light", descriptions of lust, "crescendo and complication", unexpected changes in rhythm, tempo, etc.Tolstoy 1995

p. 87. Tolstoy contends that works marked by such techniques "do not convey any feeling, but only affect the nerves".

Diversion

Diversion is "an intellectual interest added to the work of art", such as the melding of documentary and fiction, as well as the writing of novels, poetry, and music "in such a way that they must be puzzled out". All such works do not correspond with Tolstoy's view of art as the infection of others with feelings previously experienced, and his exhortation that art be "universal" in appeal.

The corruption of art

Causes

Church Christianity and the Renaissance

Tolstoy approves of early Christian art for being inspired by love of Christ and man, as well as its antagonism to pleasure-seeking. He prefers this to the art born of "Church Christianity", which ostensibly evades the "essential theses of true Christianity" (that is, that all men are born of the Father, are equals, and should strive towards mutual love).Tolstoy 1995

p. 44. Art became pagan – worshipping religious figures – and subservient to the dictates of the Church. The corruption of art was deepened after the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...

, as the abuse of papal power became more obvious. The rich began to doubt, seeing contradictions between the actions of the Church and the message of Christianity. But instead of turning back to the early Christian teachings, the upper classes began to appreciate and commission art that was merely pleasing. This tendency was facilitated by the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

, with the aggrandisement of ancient Greek art, philosophy, and culture which, Tolstoy alleges, is inclined to pleasure and beauty worship.

Aesthetic theory

Tolstoy perceives the roots of

in the Renaissance. Art for pleasure was validated in reference to the philosophy of the Greeks and the elevation of “beauty” as a legitimate criterion with which to separate good from bad art.Tolstoy 1995

p. 53. Tolstoy moves to discredit aesthetics by reviewing and reducing previous theories – including those of Baumgarten,

Kant Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and aest ...

, Hegel, and

Schopenhauer Arthur Schopenhauer ( , ; 22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) was a German philosopher. He is best known for his 1818 work '' The World as Will and Representation'' (expanded in 1844), which characterizes the phenomenal world as the pr ...

– to two main “aesthetic definitions of beauty”:Tolstoy 1995

p. 31. # The "objective" or "mystical" definition of beauty in which beauty is "something absolutely perfect which exists outside us",Tolstoy 1995

p. 32. whether it be associated with "idea, spirit, will, God" # The "subjective" definition of beauty, in which "beauty is a certain pleasure we experience, which does not have personal advantage as its aim". This definition tends to be more inclusive, enabling things like food and fabric to be called art Tolstoy then argues that, despite their apparent divergence, there is little substantive difference between the two strands. This is because both schools recognise beauty only by the pleasure it gives: "both notions of beauty come down to a certain sort of pleasure that we receive, meaning that we recognize as beauty that which pleases us without awakening our lust". Therefore, there is no objective definition of art in aesthetics. Tolstoy condemns the focus on beauty/pleasure at length, calling aesthetics a discipline:

according to which the difference between good art, conveying good feelings, and bad art, conveying wicked feelings, was totally obliterated, and one of the lowest manifestations of art, art for mere pleasure – against which all teachers of mankind have warned people – came to be regarded as the highest art. And art became, not the important thing it was intended to be, but the empty amusement of idle people.

Professionalism

Tolstoy sees the developing professionalism of art as hampering the creation of good works. The professional artist can and must create to prosper, making for art that is insincere and most likely partisan – made to suit the whims of fashion or

patrons Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

. Art criticism is a symptom of the obscurity of art, for " artist, if he is a true artist, has in his work conveyed to others the feelings he has experienced: what is there to explain?". Criticism, moreover, tends to contribute to the veneration of "authorities" such as

and

. By constant unfavourable comparison, the young artist is corralled into imitating the works of the greats, as all of them are said to be true art. In short, new artists imitate the classics, setting their own feelings aside, which, according to Tolstoy, is contrary to the point of art. Art schools teach people how to imitate the method of the masters, but they cannot teach the sincerity of emotion that is the propellant of great works.Tolstoy 1995

p. 98. In Tolstoy's words, " school can call up feelings in a man, and still less can it teach a man what is the essence of art: the manifestation of feeling in his own particular fashion".

Consequences

# " e enormous waste of working people's labour",Tolstoy 1995

p. 139. with individuals spending so much time contemplating and creating bad art that they become "incapable of anything that is really necessary for people" # The volume of art produced provides "the amusement which turns these people's eyes from the meaninglessness of their lives and saves them from the boredom that oppresses them", it enables them "to go on living without noticing the meaninglessness and cruelty of their life" # The confusion and perversion of values. It becomes normal to worship not great religious figures but people who write incomprehensible poemsTolstoy 1995

p. 143. # The worship of beauty legitimises the disregarding of morality as a criterion for evaluating cultural products # Modern art "direct corrupts people" by infecting them with feelings of superstition, patriotism, and sensuality

Criticism of famous artists

Throughout the book Tolstoy demonstrates a willingness to dismiss generally accepted masters, among them

Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

, Richard Strauss,

Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his car ...

, and Oscar Wilde. He also labels his own works as "bad art", excepting only the short stories " God Sees the Truth" and "Prisoner of the Caucasus". He attempts to justify these conclusions by pointing to the ostensible chaos of previous aesthetic analysis. Theories usually involve selecting popular works and constructing principles from these examples. Volkelt, for instance, remarks that art cannot be judged on its moral content because then '' Romeo and Juliet'' would not be good art. Such retrospective justification cannot, he stresses, be the basis for theory, as people will tend to create subjective frameworks to justify their own tastes.

Reception

Jahn notes the "often confusing use of categorisation" and the lack of definition of the key concept of emotion. Bayley writes that "the effectiveness of ''What is Art?'' lies not so much in its positive assertions as in its rejection of much that was taken for granted in the aesthetic theories of the time". Noyes criticises Tolstoy's dismissal of beauty, but states that, "despite its shortcomings", ''What is Art?'' "may be pronounced the most stimulating critical work of our time". Simmons mentions the "occasional brilliant passages" along with the "repetition, awkward language, and loose terminology". Aylmer Maude, translator of many of Tolstoy's writings, calls it "probably the most masterly of all Tolstoy's works", citing the difficulty of the subject matter and its clarity. For a comprehensive review of the reception at the time of publication, see Maude 1901''b''.Maude, Aylmer (1901''b''). "''What is Art?'' – Tolstoy's Theory of Art", in Tolstoy and his problems: essays. London: Grant Richards. pp. 102–127.

Editions

* Tolstoy, Leo (1995

. ''What is Art?'' (Translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky). London: Penguin.

Citations

References

Bayley, John (1986 966. "''What is Art?'' – excerpt from Tolstoy and the Novel" in Bloom, Harold (ed.). Leo Tolstoy. New York: Chelsea House. p. 141–152. Jahn, Gary R. (1975). "The aesthetic theory of Leo Tolstoy's ''What is Art?''". ''Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism'' 34 (1): 59–65. Maude, Aylmer (1901a). “''What is Art?'' – An Introduction”, in Tolstoy and his problems: essays. London: Grant Richards. pp. 66–101. Maude, Aylmer (1901b). “''What is Art?'' – Tolstoy’s Theory of Art”, in Tolstoy and his problems: essays. London: Grant Richards. pp. 102–127. Noyes, George (1918). Tolstoy. London: Duffield. Pevear, Richard (1995). "Preface" in Tolstoy, Leo (1995

. ''What is Art?'' (Translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky). London: Penguin. Simmons, Ernest (1973). ''What is Art?'', in Tolstoy. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. pp. 175–189.

Evaluating the content of art

Christian art

Universal art

Evaluating style

Obscurity versus accessibility

Artificiality

Borrowing

Imitation

Effectfulness

Diversion

The corruption of art

Causes

Church Christianity and the Renaissance

Aesthetic theory

Professionalism

Consequences

Criticism of famous artists

Reception

Editions

Citations

See also

References

External links