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“WHAT IS ART” BY LEO TOLSTOY- A CRITIC

By

Adenle Adepeju

Leo Tolstoy‟s essay “What is art?” is a treatise that sets out to state parameters for judging a

work of art for the primary purpose of universality, focusing more on the content or subject

matter over form and beauty (ornamentation) in any art, its accessibility and comprehensibleness.

The major parameter for judging art to him is the prevailing religious perception of the time in

which the art (poetry) is written. Religion therefore plays a very crucial factor in the appreciation

and relevance of poetry. By the word „universal‟ Tolstoy means brotherhood, love, harmony and

unity of mankind. He equates art (poetry) more to speech as it is a means of communication. The

message then becomes important in Tolstoy view as the purpose of art is the promotion of

feelings of unity; that which unite all men together without division or class, this he calls

exclusive art. To him, art (poetry) „…remains what it was and what it must be: nothing but the

infection by one man of another or of others with the feelings experienced by the artist.‟ In

effect, the poet, message and the audience all are a function of the kind of art produced. Tolstoy

argues what good and bad art is in this essay. He describes three kinds of art and its implication

on the audience and the world at large and stated the criterion on which these sets of art should

be judged. He advocates for the condemnation of all bad art that does not promote feelings of

universality.

The ideal (morals: tolerance, just, love, fairness) is important to Tolstoy, to him the ideal is the

religious perception of the time and he uses the Christian perception as an example to explain
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what he meant. Poetry is a means of communication which has a message that is progressive and

it must function from generation to generation. By progressive, Tolstoy means that there must be

development, changes or shift in poetry and it should relate to the religious perception of that

age. The purpose of poetry is feelings, that is, the feelings form the subject matter of the poems

and these feelings should be one which are for the well being of mankind. These sets of feelings

are there to replace those that are less kind and harmful for man. Feelings that promote

brotherhood among men which focuses more on the ideals of humanity, good virtues and delight

based on the religious perception in place.

Tolstoy prescribes three kinds of poetry; good, bad and „neutral‟. A good poem is that which has

as its subject matter feelings flowing from a religious perception of man‟s position in the world

in relation to God and to his neighbour (mankind) that is, transmits ecclesiastical ideals with the

use of words that are simple ( accessible and easily understood by everyone notwithstanding the

class, trade or area). A bad poem is one which runs contrary to the subject matter of a good

poem, which tries to make use of superfluous details and language and these hinders the

transmission of emotions as well as restricts accessibility of the poem to just a few and not all

„exclusive poem‟. By „neutral‟ poem, it means one which has as its subject matter simple

feelings of common life such as merriment, pity, cheerfulness and tranquility. Through this

prescription, Tolstoy admits that there is a difference between the religious perception of past

and present day. He uses the Christian faith to exemplify his statement by looking at both the old

and new concepts of what Christianity is, he is able to show the element of relevance, that is, one

is now relevant while the former is not. The subject matter of former poems needed heroes

(ideal) for example, the greatness of Pharaoh or of a Roman emperor but that of present day
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poems does not need heroes but focuses more on humility, purity and compassion as in the case

with Lazarus.

How then can we judge or decipher what good or bad poetry is? What are the criteria? Tolstoy

answers by giving three parameters in the form of questions:

 Is it real or a counterfeit?

 Does this poem belong to the category of bad exclusive poetry as opposed to religious

perception or of Christian poems uniting people?

 Does it transmit feelings flowing from love of God and man, or merely the simple

feelings uniting all men?

These questions which he calls verification helps in selecting good from bad art and through this

verification it would be easier to get rid of the pernicious results of harmful poetry and avail the

audience of a beneficent action which is the purpose of true and good art indispensible for the

spiritual life of man and of humility. Tolstoy emphasizes that appraisal should be dependent on

the age it was produced and the religious ideal of the time.

Imagery, melody and ornament are important aspect of what makes a good poetry; images that

promotes accessibility and conveys admiration and delight (lines and colours). Modern poets to

Tolstoy are empty and insignificant as they try to strengthen the impression produced by their

empty poem and melodies piled up with complex modulations. When the poem is stripped of all

these impressions or ornaments, it is better understood and accessible and creates harmony

“…the use of trivial and exclusive melodies to make them attractive, are laden with harmonic,

rhythmic complication making it far from being universal.”, “… melody he says is free and may
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be understood of all men, but as soon as it is bound up with a particular harmony, it ceases to be

accessible except to people trained to such harmony and it becomes strange, not only to common

men of another nationality, but to all who do not belong to the circle whose members have

accustomed themselves to certain forms of harmonization”

On the whole, Tolstoy focuses more on the content of poetry and less emphasis on the form or

imagery of the poem. To him, poetry must transmit highest religious feeling and have the quality

of uniting all men in one common feeling. Poetry therefore becomes a vehicle for peace, love

and harmony of all mankind portraying feelings common to mankind according to the religious

perception of the age in which it is composed. This therefore is good art and others contrary to

this are bad art.

Work Cited

Tolstoy, Leo. “What is Art”. Criticism: Major Statements. Eds. Kaplan, C. and William, D.

New York: Bedford/St. Martin‟s, 2000.

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