He lists three conditions that make an artwork real or “infectious” which are first the degree of individuality of the feeling being transmitted, second, the clarity of the feeling being transmitted, and lastly the amount of sincerity in the artwork. Tolstoy also mentions that there are definite signs to distinguish real art from counterfeit art. Do you think such relationship/communion can be achieved when we look at a work of art? Has this happened to you before?

This is what real art is by Tolstoy’s definition one that “destroys in the consciousness of the recipient the separation between himself and the artist, and not that alone, but also between himself and all whose minds receive this work of art”. This spiritual union is happens when the recipient viewing the artwork no longer sees the work as done by the artist but rather sees the work as if the work is his own (the recipient’s). A work of art according to him is not art if no feelings are evoked and more profound, a feeling of spiritual union with the author and those “infected by it”. Tolstoy elaborates on the union facet to his definition of art. What does he means in this statement? Why would lacking this specific ability make us like wild beasts and/or the laconic Kasper Hauser? Tolstoy notes that without this, “men would be like wild beasts, or like Kasper Hauser”.

One important aspect to the recipient’s part is the capacity to receive feelings and thoughts from the author and pass them on to others. Instead, he defines art (although stating that no exact objective definition of art exists) as communication between the creator behind the artwork and the recipient of the art that eventually unites people through a common understanding of the artwork. He disagrees with existing definitions of art as something that manifests beauty and offers pleasure. In “What is Art?”, Leo Tolstoy makes a strong argument that to define art “correctly”, one must consider it as “one of the conditions of human life”.

What is art by leo tolstoy