What Is Art?<br/>By Leo Tolstoy<br/>Translated from the original manuscript by Aylmer Maude<br/>With an Introduction by the Translator<br/>One of the most powerful critiques of aesthetics ever written, What Is Art? captures Leo Tolstoy’s bold and uncompromising exploration of the nature, purpose, and value of art in human life. Drawing from religious, moral, and philosophical traditions, Tolstoy challenges the elitism and mysticism of 19th-century art and insists on a vision of art as a tool for moral and spiritual progress. This edition includes the full original text, translator’s introduction, and extensive appendices featuring French literary references and poetry by Baudelaire, Verlaine, Mallarmé, and Maeterlinck—all of which illuminate Tolstoy’s critique.<br/>Perfect for readers of philosophy, literature, and aesthetics, this work remains a landmark in cultural criticism, provoking deep questions about what art should be—and whom it should serve.