What Is Art? · Chapter
XIV explained
Tolstoy argues that most of what upper-class society considers art is actually counterfeit, not real art, because it fails to transmit genuine feeling.
What happens
Tolstoy argues that most of what upper-class society considers art is actually counterfeit, not real art, because it fails to transmit genuine feeling. He contrasts the infectious joy of peasant singing with the artificiality of Beethoven's later sonata, illustrating how perverted taste cannot distinguish true art from its ornate imitations.
Themes in this chapter
Infection Theory of Art
Art is defined by its ability to infect the receiver with the artist's feeling; peasant singing exemplifies this, while most upper-class art fails.
True Art vs. Counterfeit Art
Tolstoy asserts that almost all upper-class art is counterfeit, with only one in hundreds of thousands being genuine, and that counterfeits are often more ornate and effective.
Perversion of Art by Professionalism and Gain
The vast number of manufactured works produced for profit and status perverts taste and makes it difficult to recognize real art.
Characters to notice
- Leo Tolstoy
Author and narrator, describes his personal experience of being infected by peasant singing and his critical reception of Beethoven's sonata.
- Ludwig van Beethoven
His later sonata Opus 101 is presented as an example of obscure, unhealthy excitement compared to clear folk music.
- Johann Sebastian Bach
Mentioned as a composer whose arias transmit pleasant, clear, and strong musical impressions.
- Frédéric Chopin
Cited for melodies that are clear and powerful when not overloaded with complications.
Key passages
“that sense of infection with another’s feeling—compelling us to joy in another’s gladness, to sorrow at another’s grief, and to mingle souls with another—which is the very essence of art.”
The core of art is the emotional contagion that makes us share another person's joy or sorrow.
Tolstoy restates his infection theory of art as the essential criterion.
“scarcely one in a hundred thousand proceeds from an emotion felt by its author, all the rest being but manufactured counterfeits of art in which borrowing, imitating, effects, and interestingness replace the contagion of feeling.”
Fewer than one in a hundred thousand works of upper-class art come from genuine emotion; the rest are fakes that rely on imitation and spectacle instead of true feeling.
Tolstoy quantifies the rarity of true art amid the vast output of counterfeits.