Tolstoy argues that although the true function of art is to unite people and strengthen shared moral foundations, the institutions of his time distorted this purpose through power and wealth, stressing that genuine art is judged not by technical brilliance or decorative form but by the sincerity and vitality of the emotion it conveys from one human being to another, describing how society’s misguided tastes and commercial standards reduce art to an ornament for the privileged rather than a communal inheritance, criticizing how artists themselves become dependent on public approval and market demands rather than truthful expression, and concluding that art must return to universal emotional communion if it is to contribute meaningfully to the future of humanity.
