The Infectiousness of ArtTolstoy,What is Art>Art is a human activity consisting in this, that one man consciously, by means of certain external signs, hands on to others feelings he has lived through, and that other people are infected by these feelings and also experience them. (P. 51)>If a man is infected by the author s condition of soul. if he feels this emotion and this union with others, then the object which has effected this is art; but if there be no such infection, if there be not this union with the author and with others who are moved by the same work-then it is not art. And not only is infection a sure sign of art, but the degree of infectiousness is also the sole measure of excellence in art.The stronger the infection, the better is the art as art, speaking now apart from its subject matter, i. e, not considering the quality of the feelings it transmits.And the degree of the infectiousness of art depends on three conditions:(1)On the greater or lesser individuality of the feeling transmitted;(2)On the greater of lesser clearness with which the feeling is transmitted(3)On the sincerity of the artist, i. e, on the greater or lesser force with which the artist himself feels the emotion he transmits. (P.140)>And the appraisement of feelings (i.e, the acknowledgment of these or those feelings as being more or less good, more or less necessary for the well-being of mankind) is made by the religious perception of the age. (P. 143)>The religious perception of our time, in its widest and most practical application, is the consciousness that our well-being, both material and spiritual, individual and collective, temporal and eternal, lies in the growth of brotherhood among all men--in their loving harmony with one another. ( P 145)>And only two kinds of feeling do unite all men: first, feelings flowing from the perception of our sonship to God and of the brotherhood of man; and next, the simple feelings of common life, accessible to everyone without exception--such as the feeling of merriment, of pity, of cheerfulness, of tranquility, etc. Only these two kinds of feelings can now supply material for art good in its subject matter. ( P.150)>And therefore the Christian art of our time can be and is of two kinds:(1)art transmitting feelings flowing from a religious perception of man's position in the world in relation to God and to his neighbor--religious art in the limited meaning of the term; and (2)art transmitting the simplest feelings of common life, but such always, as are accessible to all men in the whole world: the art of common life--the art of a people--universal art Only these two kinds of art can be considered good art in our time. (P. 151-2)