What Is Art?
What Is Art?, published in 1897 and 1898 after fifteen years of intermittent work, is Leo Tolstoy's attempt to settle a question he thought the aesthetic philosophers had evaded. He rejects beauty as the basis of art and defines it instead as the transmission of feeling from one person to others; good art infects its audience with feelings that unite people, bad art with feelings that divide them or with no feeling at all. On this ground he condemns most of the art of the upper classes since the Renaissance, including Wagner, Baudelaire, the French Symbolists, Shakespeare, and his own novels, and praises folk tales, Dickens, Hugo and the Gospels. Aylmer Maude, his friend and authorized translator, prepared this English version with Tolstoy's approval. It is available to read online in your browser on Vinteuil, with the first chapter free.
Start reading right away, without signing up. The complete text is included in Vinteuil Reading, or yours forever with a one-time purchase.
Frequently asked questions about What Is Art?
What Is Art? by Leo Tolstoy can be read online on Vinteuil, directly in your browser. The first chapter is free for everyone; the complete book is included in Vinteuil Reading ($4.99/month or $39.99/year) or yours forever for $2.99.
Can I read What Is Art? online?
Yes. What Is Art? opens right on this page, in a reader designed for long reading: adjustable text size, light, sepia and dark themes, a clickable table of contents and your place saved when you are signed in. No download or app is needed.
Is What Is Art? free to read on Vinteuil?
The first chapter of What Is Art? is free, without an account. To read the whole book, either buy its online reading for $2.99 (£2.99 in the UK) and keep it forever, or subscribe to Vinteuil Reading for $4.99/month (£4.99/month in the UK) or $39.99/year, with 1 month free for new subscribers. The subscription opens every book in the library and can be cancelled at any time.
Is What Is Art? in the public domain?
Yes. What Is Art? by Leo Tolstoy is a public-domain work, here in the translation by Aylmer Maude. Vinteuil offers a carefully prepared digital edition made for comfortable reading on screen.
How long does it take to read What Is Art??
About 5 h 17 min of reading, at an average reading pace. Your place is saved automatically when you are signed in, so you can read in several sittings and on several devices.
What kind of book is What Is Art??
What Is Art? by Leo Tolstoy is filed under "Philosophy" in the Vinteuil library.
