Essay about Tolstoy's "What Is Art?"

Leo Tolstoy, author of “My Confession”, succumbed to a profound emergency. With his most noteworthy works behind him, he discovered his feeling of reason lessening as his VIP and open recognition surged, sinking into a condition of profound wretchedness and sadness regardless of having a vast bequest, great wellbeing for his age, a spouse who had given him fourteen children, and the guarantee of endless artistic acclaim. On the very edge of suicide, he made one final handle at light in the midst of the obscurity of his life presence, swinging to the world 's religious and philosophical conventions for answers to the age-old inquiry with respect to the importance of life.

Furthermore, in Leo Tolstoy‘s The Death of Ivan Ilyich, and analysis will demonstrate that the character Ivan Ilyich struggles throughout his life to achieve the ideals of liberty, life and the pursuit of happiness. It is through Ivan’s death and his friend’s narration of Ivan’s life that the reader comes to the realization the the middle-class Ivan has few strength’s besides his hard work to drive him towards his ideals for wealth and property. Ivan lived his whole life with the purpose of enjoying himself. He did this through winning power at work, spending money, buying things to impress his friends, throwing parties, and playing bridge. His pursuit of happiness in material things and pleasures is so great that his deliberately avoids anything unpleasant. This means that when he settled down with a family, which was expected of him, he never grows close to them.

The aesthetic definition of art describes art as a 'vehicle ' (Carroll, 1999) for aesthetic experience. Therefore art is only really an artwork if it triggers aesthetic responses and experiences for its audience. In other words, art is defined through aesthetics; and aesthetic experiences. There are a number of crucial elements which must be explained in order to account for the plausibility of the aesthetic definition of art. This essay will outline these key points, and arguments for and against these elements; in conjunction with examples from the text 'Persuasion ' by Jane Austen (1998) to illustrate why this

Tolstoy began the story with chapter one, with the death of Ivan Ilyich and the narration of Pyotr Ivanovich, a close friend of Ivan’s. As demonstrated in the first chapter, there are evident flaws to the society that the two lived in. Pyotr’s narration suggests to the reader the materialistic, and selfish motives that individuals in the society possessed. Furthermore, the reader understands that individuals of this materialistic society sought to obtain pleasantness and propriety for their lives. In addition, the reader understands that individuals of this society are conformists, concerned wholly with the image they portray of themselves to society. Tolstoy begins the story from Pyotr’s perspective and narration because Pyotr is a

Literary modernism is an idea that was developed in the late nineteenth, early twentieth centuries. It was adopted by countries like Europe and North America It was a new style of poetry different than the “norm,” and modernist writers experimented with different forms and expressions within their poetry and novels. Two modernist writers of this time were Polish-British Joseph Conrad and Russian writer Leo Tolstoy. They both broke out of the mold and were willing to try a new type of writing. This was something that connected them in this time, although their writing styles were very different, the fact that they both participated in the modernist movement gives them a similarity. Tolstoy’s work, The Death of Ivan Ilyich, and Conrad’s Heart of Darkness are both very different works of literature, but still manage to hold similarities in

One of the themes of Tolstoy’s story of The Death of Ivan Ilych is detachment from life, considering that all material things can substitute the true meaning of life: compassion and care for others. “Everywhere in the novel, Tolstoy speaks of Iván Ilych's desire for propriety, decorous living, and pleasantness all while making this his first and most important priority. This motivation is a poor

Throughout the perspectives of Tolstoy’s life in “A Confession and Other Religious Writings”, he describes his depression as an unanswerable question. With his pursuit only ended up becoming more and more vague and pointless, Tolstoy was at his breaking point many times in his life despite his status as a successful author with a large family. The cause of Tolstoy’s distress is his meaning of life. Tolstoy wishes to know if there is a purpose to his life, will his works and effort mean anything in the long run or if they will be forgotten in the stream of time. In his state of despair, Tolstoy used other figures such as Solomon and Buddha in a way to justify death and his own interpretation of it so that way he does not feel alone or the only

What is art? Art in the dictionary means the various branches of creative activity, such as painting, music, literature, and music. Does that really define art? Art can have so many different meanings. Arts real meaning is the expression of emotions the artist feels or views on what’s happening in that era and still has a lasting meaning or representation.

Throughout his tenure, Fyodor Dostoyevsky frequently explored the elaborate and pressing questions of “where is Russia going? and what is to be done about Russia?” through the “[creation of] landscapes that reverberate[d] with these questions” (Stanton and Hardy). Typically writing in the capacity of a quasi-pundit, Dostoyevsky’s writings often examined and critiqued the excessively turbulent Russian society of the late nineteenth century through his portrayal of several underlying themes that proliferated during the time. Fyodor Dostoyevsky's brilliant commentary Crime and Punishment “is rich in [both the] themes that dominated the periodical press of the time” and in its rigorous assessment of the evolving roles played by several human

Defining art is a frustrating and thought provoking idea, because to define art is the equivalent to putting up a wall and saying you cannot pass it, but as human nature works, someone will eventually attempt and succeed at crossing over the wall. I personally enjoy the thought of artists constantly breaking the barrier of things considered to be art, but I also enjoy the thought of people preparing definitions to share with the world, because it causes this ongoing controversy. I believe the most satisfactory definition we have studied thus far is that of Jerrold Levinson. Levinson’s definition discards the thought of a strict “artworld,” which is why it works well with an example like the west side of the Berlin wall. Levinson contends

Tolstoy says, "people come to understand that the meaning of eating lies in the nourishment of the body, only when they cease to consider that the object of that activity is pleasure. And it is the same with regard to art. People will come to understand the meaning of art only when they cease to consider that the aim of that activity is beauty, that is to say, pleasure." (Tolstoy, 7). The “nourishment” good art provides is capability to infect others with the emotions that the artist had when he expressed the art. This “nourishment” stems from the idea that one must have the feelings of the artist transmitted to them, and if they experience similar feelings as the artist then it is true art and the observer/viewer is nourished.

An overarching question in the art world is if art serves important purposes; this is argued by R.G. Collingwood in “Expressing Emotion” and Leo Tolstoy in “What is Art?” On the opposing side Clive Bell in “Art.” argues that art serves no important purposes.

"It is almost unimportant whether a work finds an understanding audience. One has to do it because one believes that it is the right thing to do. We are not only here to please, we cannot help challenging the spectator.”

For as long as the earth has circled the sun, masses of men have continued to rise and lower themselves dutifully towards sky and towards earth. Lips have continued to eloquently part, countenancing sounds that spill out in a fluent mélange of euphoric expressions and sorrows. Pages have continued to sound as countless, weathered finger-tips root through those same yellowing linen books that have procured an aroma of a school house touched by a familiar vanillin scent. Vibrations of beating hearts have continued to thrive as the mass have drawn nearer to the parables with which they align their moral compass’. And despite all this time, all masses have continued to look to their opus’ from which they draw their mirages of the world. Despite all hardships, they continue to look to author who asks from them, simply one thing: simply compassion. In this house of worship, A Muslim mosque, a Catholic church, a Jewish temple, a Hindu mandir, or perhaps something entirely different, one can find man’s similarity through all his differences.

Throughout the art community, there are many different forms and techniques classed as art. In the recent attack on the Queensland Art Gallery (QAG), many of the public hastily judged the abstract art exhibition by stating ‘Abstract art is not really art’. Some of the reluctant public continue to say ‘Abstract painters are sloppy, reckless, renegades with no regard for rules for formalities.’ It is in my opinion that abstract art is can be classed as art because it incorporates the basic concepts and techniques of art. Abstract art, on dictionary.com, can be defined as a trend in painting and sculpture in the twentieth century. Abstract art seeks to separate from traditional representation of physical objects. Abstract art explores the