Lauren Rule- Leo N. Tolstoy (Class Reading #1)

I like the theory that Thomas Wartenberg accredits Leo Tolstoy with in The Nature of Art.  So far I relate my own definition of art and beauty closest to Tolstoy.  Why do people really drop so much on a piece of artwork?  Or why do people insist on attending ballets, operas, and plays.  There are no words in ballet, just expression through dance.  And some of the truly magnificent operas are sung in a beautiful language that I will never understand.  I will never understand the idea of spending money on a painting of a bowl of fruit.  It is beautiful to be sure, but I can arrange a bowl of fruit in my kitchen and it would be a lot cheaper and just as pretty.  Tolstoy attempts to explain the frivolous spending on the end result as well as the production of art.
My definition of art would be somewhere in the general area of: something I find beautiful and speaks to me in some way.
Tolstoy's definition "through the use of such devices as color, sound, movement, art communicates to its audience a feeling or emotion that the artist has previously experienced".  My biggest problem with his definition is that how the hell am I supposed relive what the artist already experienced.  Going back to the bowl of fruit-- I see the beauty and realism of the painting, but I have no idea what inspiration or motivation struck the artist to paint the picture.  Communication is the key in Tolstoy's definition, mainly the communication of emotions from artist to audience.  He claims that since communication, or speech, is a trait required for humanity and art is communication, then art is also necessary for human existence.  I like his logic in this part.  I think that art is essential to our being.  It serves many purposes or forms of communication.  If you think back to the cave paintings, they left methods of hunting and such.
Tolstoy also claims that "art furthers the spiritual evolution of humankind".  I disagree on this point.  If the point of art is communication, than unless the artist was attempting to convey a spiritual growth or share a spiritual experience, art can not further the spiritual evolution of a person or audience.