And so the arbitrary union of three incommensurate, mutually disconnected concepts became the basis of a bewildering theory... [by which] one of the lowest renderings of art, art for mere pleasure - against which all of the master teachers warned - was idealized as the ultimate in art.
TolstoyAestheticsCriticismAesthetic theoryArt theoryTradition
This critique ignores how modern art theory expanded beyond mere pleasure.
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I know that most men - not only those considered clever, but even those who are very clever and capable of understanding most difficult scientific, mathematica…
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What has pleased, and continues to please, is likely to please again: hence are derived the rules of art, and on this immoveable foundation they must ever stan…
In spite the mountains of books written about art, no precise definition of art has been constructed. And the reason for this is that the conception of art has…