Tolstoy: What is Art?

by Leo Tolstoy, Aylmer Maude, G. Jones

Overview

Both critics and admirers of Tolstoy's great novel were shocked by the savage iconoclasm of his What is Art? when it appeared in 1898. How was it that this great artist could condemn the works of Shakespeare, Raphael, Beethoven and even his own Anna Karenina as 'false art'? Today's reader still has to grapple with that paradox. The essay still has power to challenge and provoke, for it was written by a giant who took art seriously while western civilisation toyed with it as a mere pastime. For Tolstoy, art was as natural and as necessary for humankind as speech.

In his introduction to this translation, W. Gareth Jones shows how vitally Tolstoy's personality and experience of life were engaged in creating What is Art?, how integral the essay was to his art and teaching, and why it continues to demand a response from us.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781853993817
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	03/31/2011
Series:	Russian Texts
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.52(d)

About the Author

W. Gareth Jones is Professor of Russian at the University of Wales, Bangor.

Date of Birth:

September 9, 1828

Date of Death:

November 20, 1910

Place of Birth:

Tula Province, Russia

Place of Death:

Astapovo, Russia

Education:

Privately educated by French and German tutors; attended the University of Kazan, 1844-47

Table of Contents

Introduction Further Reading What is Art?
Editor's Notes