Excellent4.8 out of 5On Trustpilot
  1. Christian Books/
  2. Theology Books

Bookmark this item

What Is Art?

by Leo Tolstoy

  • 300 pages
  • Publisher: Les prairies numériques
  • 15.3 x 22.9 x 1.8 cm

£19.49

Free UK Delivery

Available - Usually dispatched within 4 days

Buying for a school or church? Upgrade to a FREE Eden Plus Account

Bookmark this item

Free delivery on orders over £15

What Is Art? is an 1897 philosophical treatise by Leo Tolstoy that lays out his philosophy of aesthetics. Rejecting notions of aesthetics that center around beauty, Tolstoy instead posits that art is defined by its role in transmitting feelings between human beings. Furthermore, he argues that the quality of art is not assessed by the pleasure it gives, but whether the feelings the art evokes align with the meaning of life revealed by a given society's religious perception. In line with his spiritual views set out in The Kingdom of God Is Within You, Tolstoy argues that the proper purpose of art is to transmit feelings of human unity and "to set up, in place of the existing reign of force, that kingdom of God, i.e. of love, which we all recognize to be the highest aim of human life."Tolstoy makes a number of unconventional aesthetic judgments in the course of the book, dismissing such works as Wagner's operas, Romeo and Juliet, and his own past works like War and Peace and Anna Karenina as "bad art." In turn, he praises such works as Dickens' A Christmas Carol and Hugo's Les Mis
What Is Art? and A Confession: A Journey Through Doubt, Faith, and the Search for Meaning (Large Print Deluxe Hardcover Edition For Easy Reading)
A Confession: A Journey Through Doubt, Faith, and the Search for Meaning (Large Print Deluxe Hardcover Edition For Easy Reading)What Is Art?

  • Title

    What Is Art?

  • Author

    Leo Tolstoy

  • Publisher

    Les prairies numériques

  • Published

    February 2026

  • Weight

    405g

  • Page Count

    300

  • Dimensions

    15.3 x 22.9 x 1.8 cm

  • ISBN

    9791043139796

  • ISBN-10

    1043139796

  • Eden Code

    7431202

Featured in