What Is Art? · Chapter
Chapter VIII explained
Tolstoy argues that the art of the upper classes is not true, universal art, but a counterfeit that serves only a small elite.
What happens
Tolstoy argues that the art of the upper classes is not true, universal art, but a counterfeit that serves only a small elite. He contends that this art is inaccessible to the vast majority of working people due to its cost, its unintelligibility, and its transmission of feelings alien to their lives. He traces the separation of upper-class art from folk art to the loss of faith in Church teaching after the Renaissance, and concludes that the art of the upper classes cannot be the art of the whole people, forcing a dilemma: either art is not vital, or the art called art is not real.
Themes in this chapter
Social Class and Exclusivity in Art
Tolstoy argues that upper-class art is exclusive, inaccessible to the working majority, and sustained by their labor, making it a class-based counterfeit of true art.
True Art vs. Counterfeit Art
The chapter contrasts the false, exclusive art of the upper classes with the potential for universal, true art that would be accessible to all people.
Characters to notice
- Leo Tolstoy
Author and primary voice; critiques the exclusivity and falseness of upper-class art.
- Friedrich Nietzsche
Mentioned in the context of the 'Übermenschen' concept used by those who openly deny the common people's right to art.
Key passages
“ninety-nine percent of our European population live and die, generation after generation, crushed by toil, much of which toil is necessary for the production of our art which they never use”
The vast majority of Europeans spend their lives in exhausting labor that supports an art they never benefit from.
Tolstoy highlights the exploitative relationship between art production and the working class.
“the art of our upper classes never can be the art of the whole people”
The art enjoyed by the wealthy can never truly belong to everyone.
Central thesis of the chapter: upper-class art is inherently exclusive and cannot be universal.