Professor Kozlowski tackles the first half of Tolstoy's aesthetic masterwork (?) What is Art? to isolate and examine (1) Tolstoy's grievances with art in the late nineteenth century (and (1b) how much of that applies to contemporary artistic criticism), (2) the failings in other aesthetic systems at the time, (3) Tolstoy's own (admittedly-ambiguous and problematic) principles of artistic merit, and (4) how Tolstoy's targets (including Baudelaire, Impressionism, Shakespeare, and Beethoven's 9th Symphony) fare under his criticism. There's a lot to unpack and a lot to talk about, so strap in and get ready for another convoluted discussion about art!
Suggested supplementary readings include:
Baudelaire, Verlaine, and Mallarme (translations included in Tolstoy's Appendices)
Wagner's Ring Cycle (we'll talk about it more next week)
Turgenev's The Hunting Sketches (for an example of peasant-oriented Russian literature)
Genesis from the Bible (one of the few artworks Tolstoy frequently holds up as exemplary)
Revisit some 19th century art movements like Romanticism, Realism, and Impressionism.
To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/
And please consider contributing to Professor Kozlowski's Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/ProfessorKozlowski - where you'll also be able to vote for and suggest new topics for future lectures.