WHAT IS ART?

First published in 1898 this book has lost none of its power to challenge our perception of art and its function in society today. I n this provocative work Tolstoy famously dismisses works by Shakespeare, Dante, Wagner and even many of his own works as 'bad art' b ased on various criteria including sincerity, ethics, morality and accessibility. Tolstoy took art seriously at a time when western civilization toyed with it as a mere pastime during the height of the Aestheticism movement. For him, art was natural and necessary to the adv...[Read more]