I love Leo Tolstoy, especially his articles (more than large works). He expressed very deep and interesting ideas.
And about art here with him I disagree. Still, even borrowed items, copies affect who contemplate them. Maybe less than the original. But still!
And for the beginning сreator, it is sometimes important to first go through the period of copying and borrowing, to be fed up with great works, later to create something of your own.
Fantastic comment @behelen! Thank you!
I studied Tolstoy at university 20 years ago and I still come back to him from time to time. What blew me away about these quotes is that he basically sums up my own philosophy of art that I reached over a few years of drunkenness. I'm sober now for 13 years thank God!
I think that art gets us closer to God. It's a bold statement, I know, but the older I get the more I come to believe that - pure self-expression for one's own self, not for praise or commercial gain; free of any thought of judgement.
Copying or borrowing is not art in my opinion; it's practising and learning. Sure, there is artistic merit in doing that, but it's not art.
Let me give you an example of my guitar playing. I've been playing for nearly 30 years. I get a great deal of pleasure from listening to music and learning songs. I had to do that to learn the techniques and vocabulary. But it never really satisfied me, deep down. More recently I've begun improvising over other music, or just making stuff up without really intending for it to be anything in particular. That brings me more satisfaction than any other kind of playing. It's therapy, catharsis, deep.
Now, when it comes to consuming art, it really doesn't matter what the artist's intention was; it's what you, as a consumer, get from it. You can only respond to art based on your own experiences, just as you can only create art in the same way.
Thank you for the very thoughtful discussion. You've made me think on a Sunday morning, with a sink full of dishes waiting to be washed, yet here I sit thinking and typing with a cup of coffee!