Aesthetics

Tolstoy Altered: The Chimpanzee and the Significance of Art

In What Is Art?, Leo Tolstoy defines artistic expression as the conscious communication of emotion. Art, on this account, is not distinguished by beauty or formal perfection but by a psychological “infection” — a transmission of feeling from artist to audience, carried through movements, lines, melodies, or colors. Its worth is measured accordingly: the stronger the infection, the better the art. That infection, however, is not accidental. It depends on three conditions embedded in the work itself — individuality, clarity, and sincerity. When a deeply particular feeling is expressed with unclouded clarity out of a genuine urge to share it, the bridge between minds holds.