Aestheticism is an art movement supporting the emphasis of aesthetic values more than
social-political themes for literature, fine art, music and other arts. It was particularly
prominent in Europe during the 19th century, but contemporary critics are also associated
with the movement, such as Harold Bloom, who has recently argued against projecting social
and political ideology onto literary works, which he believes has been a growing problem
in humanities departments over the last century. In the 19th century, it was related to other
movements such as symbolism or decadence represented in France, or decadentismo represented in
Italy, and may be considered the British version of the same style.
Aesthetic literature The British decadent writers were much influenced
by the Oxford professor Walter Pater and his essays published during 1867–68, in which
he stated that life had to be lived intensely, with an ideal of beauty. His text Studies
in the History of the Renaissance was very well regarded by art-oriented young men of
the late 19th century. Writers of the Decadent movement used the slogan "Art for Art's Sake",
the origin of which is debated. Some claim that it was invented by the philosopher Victor
Cousin, although Angela Leighton in the publication On Form: Poetry, Aestheticism and the Legacy
of a Word notes that the phrase was used by Benjamin Constant as early as 1804. It is
generally accepted to have been promoted by Théophile Gautier in France, who interpreted
the phrase to suggest that there was not any real association between art and morality.
The artists and writers of Aesthetic style tended to profess that the Arts should provide
refined sensuous pleasure, rather than convey moral or sentimental messages. As a consequence,
they did not accept John Ruskin and Matthew Arnold's conception of art as something moral
or useful. Instead, they believed that Art did not have any didactic purpose; it need
only be beautiful. The Aesthetes developed a cult of beauty, which they considered the
basic factor of art. Life should copy Art, they asserted. They considered nature as crude
and lacking in design when compared to art. The main characteristics of the style were:
suggestion rather than statement, sensuality, great use of symbols, and synaesthetic effects—that
is, correspondence between words, colours and music. Music was used to establish mood.
Predecessors of the Aesthetics included John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley, and some of
the Pre-Raphaelites. In Britain the best representatives were Oscar Wilde and Algernon Charles Swinburne,
both influenced by the French Symbolists, and James McNeill Whistler and Dante Gabriel
Rossetti. The style and these poets were satirised by Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera Patience
and other works, such as F. C. Burnand's drama The Colonel, and in comic magazines such as
Punch. Compton Mackenzie's novel Sinister Street
makes use of the type as a phase through which the protagonist passes as he is influenced
by older, decadent individuals. The novels of Evelyn Waugh, who was a young participant
of aesthete society at Oxford, describe the aesthetes mostly satirically, but also as
a former participant. Some names associated with this assemblage are Robert Byron, Evelyn
Waugh, Harold Acton, Nancy Mitford, A.E. Housman and Anthony Powell.
Aesthetic visual arts Artists associated with the Aesthetic style
include James McNeill Whistler, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and Aubrey Beardsley. Although the
work of Edward Burne-Jones was exhibited at the Grosvenor Gallery which promoted the movement,
it also contains narrative and conveys moral or sentimental messages hence it falls outside
the given definition. Aesthetic Movement decorative arts
The primary element of Decorative Art is utility. The convenient but trite maxim 'Art for Art's
Sake', identifying art or beauty as the primary element in other branches of the Aesthetic
Movement, especially Fine Art cannot apply in this context. Decorative art must first
have utility but may also be beautiful. Decorative art is dissociated from Fine Art.
Important elements of the Aesthetic Movement have been identified as Reform and Eastern
Art. The Government Schools of Design were founded from 1837 onwards in order to improve
the design of British goods. Following the Great Exhibition of 1851 efforts were intensified
and Oriental objects purchased for the schools teaching collections. Owen Jones, architect
and Orientalist was requested to set out key principles of design and these became not
only the basis of the schools teaching but also the propositions which preface The Grammar
of Ornament, which is still regarded as the finest systematic study or practical sourcebook
of historic world ornament. Jones identified the need for a new and modern
style which would meet the requirements of the modern world, rather than the continual
re-cycling of historic styles, but saw no reason to reject the lessons of the past.
Christopher Dresser, a student and later Professor at the school worked with Owen Jones on The
Grammar of Ornament, as well as on the 1863 decoration of The Oriental Courts at the South
Kensington Museum, advanced the search for a new style with his two publications The
Art of Decorative Design 1862, and Principles of Design 1873.
Production of Aesthetic style furniture was limited to approximately the late 19th century.
Aesthetic style furniture is characterized by several common themes:
Ebonized wood with gilt highlights. Far Eastern influence.
Prominent use of nature, especially flowers, birds, ginkgo leaves, and peacock feathers.
Blue and white on porcelain and other fine china.
Ebonized furniture means that the wood is painted or stained to a black ebony finish.
The furniture is sometimes completely ebony-colored. More often however, there is gilding added
to the carved surfaces of the feathers or stylized flowers that adorn the furniture.
As aesthetic movement decor was similar to the corresponding writing style in that it
was about sensuality and nature, nature themes often appear on the furniture. A typical aesthetic
feature is the gilded carved flower, or the stylized peacock feather. Colored paintings
of birds or flowers are often seen. Non-ebonized aesthetic movement furniture may have realistic-looking
3-dimensional-like renditions of birds or flowers carved into the wood.
Contrasting with the ebonized-gilt furniture is use of blue and white for porcelain and
china. Similar themes of peacock feathers and nature would be used in blue and white
tones on dinnerware and other crockery. The blue and white design was also popular on
square porcelain tiles. It is reported that Oscar Wilde used aesthetic decorations during
his youth. This aspect of the movement was also satirised by Punch magazine and in Patience.
In 1882, Oscar Wilde visited Canada where he toured the town of Woodstock, Ontario and
gave a lecture on May 29 entitled; "The House Beautiful". This particular lecture featured
the early Aesthetic art movement, also known as the "Ornamental Aesthetic" art style, where
local flora and fauna were celebrated as beautiful and textured, layered ceilings were popular.
An example of this can be seen in Annandale National Historic Site, located in Tillsonburg,
Ontario, Canada. The house was built in 1880 and decorated by Mary Ann Tillson, who happened
to attend Oscar Wilde's lecture in Woodstock, and was influenced by it. Since the Aesthetic
art movement was only prevalent from about 1880 until about 1890, there are not very
many examples of this particular style left nowadays. But one such example is 18 Stafford
Terrace, London which provides an insight into how the middle classes interpreted the
principles of Aesthetics. References
Sources Gaunt, William. The Aesthetic Adventure. New
York: Harcourt, 1945. ISBN None. Halen, Widar. Christopher Dresser, a Pioneer
of Modern Design. Phaidon: 1990. ISBN 0-7148-2952-8. Lambourne, Lionel. The Aesthetic Movement.
Phaidon Press: 1996. ISBN 0-7148-3000-3. O'Brien, Kevin. Oscar Wilde in Canada, an
apostle for the arts. Personal Library, Publishers: 1982.
Snodin, Michael and John Styles. Design & The Decorative Arts, Britain 1500–1900. V&A
Publications: 2001. ISBN 1-85177-338-X. Christopher Morley. "'Reform and Eastern Art'
in Decorative Arts Society Journal" 2010 Victoria and Albert Museum "A Higher Ambition:
Owen Jones.www.vam.ac.ukpaintingsowen-jones External links
Aesthetes & Decadents on Victorian Web Annandale National Historic Site
Books, Research & Information "Aestheticism Style Guide". British Galleries.
Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 2007-07-17. Edward Burne-Jones, Victorian artist-dreamer,
a full text exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art