TOLTSTOY'S "What is Art?"

(web image)

"..."Good art" has a form and content which are in unity with the ideas and feelings which it evokes or represents. In contrast, "bad art" lacks unity of form and content with the ideas and feelings which it tries to evoke or represent. "Bad art" is shallow, repetitious, crude, clumsy, contrived, melodramatic, pretentious, or banal....

According to Tolstoy, the most important quality of any work of art is its sincerity. Any true work of art expresses original thoughts and feelings. The "highest" feelings which art may express are related to religious perception."...

http://www.csulb.edu/~jvancamp/361r14.html

http://www.angelfire.com/md2/timewarp/tolstoy.html