WHAT IS ART?

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by Leo Tolstoy (1897)

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Art is defined as a material vehicle that conveys the artist’s feelings to the observer with precision. Tolstoy calls this process infection. If you can be made to feel what the artist has felt, and perhaps be pulled into a series of feelings in a specific sequence, then the work of art has fulfilled its purpose. A sequence of feelings may include shock, then pity, then fear. If the artefact seemingly evokes random and quite different feelings between multiple observers, then it has failed in its attempt to become art. Purpose of art for upper classes. Analysis of art industry. Christian art. Non-fiction. 177 pages.

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DETAILS:

Title: What is art?

Year: 1897

Author: Leo Tolstoy

Pages: 177

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Book review by Keith Salter