Nicole Somma
The Nature of Art
Art as communication of Feeling: Leo N. Tolstoy (98- 105)
Class Reading #2
"Art is a human activity, consisting in this, that one
person consciously, by certain external signs, conveys to others feelings he
has experienced, and other people are affected by these feelings and live them
over in themselves” ( Wartenberg 104).
One theory of art that makes the
most sense to me is Tolstoy’s theory of art as communication of feelings. Tolstoy sees art as language. Language is
used to convey one person’s thoughts to another. For Tolstoy art is used to convey emotions or
feelings to another. According to Tolstoy, art must create a specific emotional
link between the piece of art and its audience. Once the spectators or listener
are infected by the same feeling the author has experienced then it is considered
art.
This concept is so easy to understand
because somewhere in the world another human being is going through the exact
same thing you are. One form of art that relates best with Tolstoy’s theory is
music. Most of the time musicians are communicating their feelings or telling
experiences through their songs. Personally, if I am in a bad mood or upset I
will listen to music that matches my emotions. One example how people can
relate to each other’s experiences occurred for me in High School. In High
school, my friend’s father died from cancer. One day when we were in the car
the song “Dance with my father” by Luther Vandross came on and she had a complete
breakdown endorsed by this song. Tolstoy’s
theory was in full effect in this situation. As stated above, my friend and the
artist were sharing the same emotional link. The listener (my friend) was
infected by the feeling of loss and death the artist was portraying.
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