(Originally Written March 1, 2008 in the Journal).
What is Art?
Leo Tolstoy
Ch. 8
The fine art of Europe is only possible through the slave labor of the lower classes. Only by their toil can the rich and powerful continue to enjoy their elite, artless art.
Even if we were to admit the un-admittable to the high art it can be shown that this fashionable art is not the whole of art in that the common man would find this art completely unintelligible. The fine art is unintelligible to the masses because it expresses feelings of men who have never known the life of toil that is common to nearly all men. The feelings that are evoked in the masses by this art, if they evoke feeling at all, are often contrary to the artist's feelings. Such feelings as honor, patriotism and amorousness will only evoke bewilderment, contempt or indignation in the masses. What the working man would understand in the fine art would not elevate his soul, only pervert it.
If art is a spiritual blessing for all men then it ought to be accessible and intelligible to all men. But, if art is not these things then either art is not as important as we say or the art today is not true art.
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