Leo Tolstoy, author of such works as “War and Peace” and “Anna Karenina,” also wrote in depth about art and religion. Tolstoy’s theory of art, as the sincere expression and communication of the artist’s moral and

Other philosophers would argue that there is no such thing as art, only beauty. Some would have us believe that because everything can be considered beautiful and contain beauty, art is nonexistent. This then poses the question of if there is such a thing as art, and does it have to be beautiful? Furthermore, what is beauty? The American Heritage College Dictionary definition of beautiful is; “Having qualities that delight the senses…” However, defining beautiful is not enough, we must also define beauty. The dictionary defines beauty as; “The quality that gives pleasure to the mind or senses and is associated with such properties as harmony of form or color, excellence of artistry, truthfulness, and originality.” One then must also define art; the dictionary does this by saying art is “1. Human efforts to imitate, supplement, alter, or counteract the work of nature. 2. The conscious production or arrangement of sounds, colors, forms, or other elements in a manner that affect the sense of beauty, specifically the production of the beautiful in a graphic or plastic medium….” From this definition I would conclude that when a person deliberately creates a “work of art,” that person is epitomizing the definition of art. Perfect examples of this are Kadonaga’s wood pieces. He put forth the effort to alter the work of nature, and thus consciously arranged forms in a style that affected the sense of beauty. He was able to appeal to the senses in an aesthetic manner that was pleasing to the eyes.

There are many different ways in which to view art or the lack there of. One philosophy behind art is that nothing is art because everything can be considered art by someone somewhere. This is a very relativistic view on art. Mr. Andy Kaufman criticized this view when he said “Fuck You! Is art if I say so!” I think Mr. Kaufman was being satirical and making a point about modern art, which so often deveates from the traditional standards and so often is not beautiful. He was saying that, if some of the pieces out their today can be considered “art,” then even something quite ugly like”Fuck You!” can be considered “art.”

religious feelings, has been very influential in the art

Some topics in this essay:
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