Tolstoy raises the central question of what art truly is and attempts to define it as the deliberate transmission of genuine feelings from one person to another, examining how the common standard of beauty often leads to confusion and fails to explain the core nature of art, emphasizing that art is not created for pleasure but serves as a moral and spiritual communication essential to human growth, describing how both the creator and the receiver participate in a process of emotional union that deepens mutual understanding, and criticizing the luxurious and elite-centered art culture of his time for drifting away from the authentic purpose of artistic expression.
