(421 words0) How to distinguish art from craft? Sometimes people cannot do this, because they do not have enough experience or taste to recognize the true greatness of creativity among analogues and fakes. However, one who seeks self-development must learn to separate the grain from the chaff. To do this, consider examples from the literature.
In the novel “Portrait” by N.V. Gogol, the hero is gifted with the talent of the artist, but he has so little money that even normal paints are not enough. For the last penny, he buys a picture that shows a loan shark. And, as if by magic, he lends to Chartkov large bills. Then the young man begins life in a big way. But the power of wealth is inexorable, and the hero needed more and more finances day after day. And he becomes a fashionable artist, taking orders from the nobility. But in order to acquire such customers, it was necessary to regularly cheat, portraying them better than they are. From such routine orders, talent was not properly developed. Once, Chartkov came to the exhibition of a friend and was delighted with his work. They belonged to high art. Then the hero realized his mistake and went crazy with envy, buying up talented works and destroying them. Thus, real art portrays the truth of life without selling its voice. And craft is a commercial business from which people quite naturally make a profit. It shows what the buyer wants to see.
Another example was described by A. I. Kuprin in “Pomegranate Bracelet”. The hero very much loved a married woman from high society, where he could not get in any way. All his life he wrote letters to her, only in this joy did he allow himself to show his feelings. However, on the next day, he gave the lady of the heart an expensive gift - a garnet bracelet. Faith's brother considered this act as an insult and persuaded her sister's husband to find a sender and return the jewelry. Zheltkov turned out to be a gentle man, he asked only for permission to send a farewell letter. A little later, Vera and Vasily learned that the telegraph operator was no longer alive, he committed suicide. In a letter, he asked Vera to listen to Beethoven's 2nd sonata. Hearing the ingenious melody, the woman understood and felt the feelings that the hero put into this musical message. She felt that he had forgiven her. Only real art can accurately and vividly convey emotions.
Thus, art is an honest and emotional creation that does not repeat what was, but creates something new. That which is not to be confused with anything. The author addresses his message not to specific people, but to eternity, therefore it is always relevant. The craft must satisfy a specific buyer, because it is focused on sale. It can be a copy of copies, because people often like the same thing. That is the difference.
