Aestheticism

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Not to be confused with asceticism.

"Aesthete" redirects here. For the visual system of chitons, see Aesthete (chiton).

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The Peacock Room, Aesthetic Movement designed by James Abbott McNeill Whistler, one of the most famous examples of Aesthetic style interior design

Aestheticism (or the Aesthetic Movement) was a 19th century European art movement that emphasized aesthetic values more than socio-political themes for literature, fine art, the decorative arts, and interior design. Generally, it represents the same tendencies that symbolism or decadence represented in France, or decadentismo represented in Italy, and may be considered the British version of the same style. It was part of the anti-19th century reaction and had post-Romantic origins, and as such anticipates modernism. It was a feature of the late 19th century from about 1868 to about 1900.

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 (1873) was very well regarded by art-oriented young men of the late 19th century. Decadent writers used the slogan "Art for Art's Sake" (L'art pour l'art), 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 (2007) 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.

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One of many Punch cartoons about æsthetes.

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 utilitarian conception of art as something moral or useful.(Citation needed) 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.(Citation needed)

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 Vincent 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

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An Aesthetic style overmantle, showing ebonized wood with gilded highlights of peacock feathers and flowers, and a top which has a color painting of birds and flowers.

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. ([[(Christopher Dresser. The Art of Decorative Design1862.) Decorative art is dissociated from Fine Art (The Illustrated London News LXXXI, Saturday, August 12, 1882, p.175.) Important elements of the Aesthetic Movement have been identified as Reform and Eastern Art (Christopher Morley.''Reform and Eastern Art'' Decorative Arts Society Journal, 2010.) 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 1856, 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 (Chinese, Japanese, and Indian) 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. Such furniture originated typically in the British Islands (usually referred to simply as "Aesthetic") or in the United States (often referred to as "American Aesthetic").(Citation needed)

Aesthetic style furniture is characterized by several common themes:

• Ebonized wood with gilt highlights.
• Japanese influence.
• Prominent use of nature, especially flowers, birds, ginkgo leaves, and peacock feathers.
• Blue and white on porcelain and 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.(Citation needed)

Large-scale trade had just begun with Japan during the 1850s and 1860s. Japanese influences, epitomized by the 1885 Japanese exhibition in Knightsbridge, influenced aesthetic furniture and furnishings. There are commonalities especially in the overall rectangular shape with columns, and the intricate woodcarvings, this influence can be seen in a concurrent style known as the Anglo-Japanese style, especially in the work of E.W. Godwin and Christopher Dresser.(Citation needed)

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1881 teapot in the shape of an Aesthete, with calla lily

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.

During 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. A gorgeous example of this can be seen in Annandale National Historic Site, located in Tillsonburg, Ontario, Canada. The house was built during 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.

Irrationalism and aestheticism

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A Private View at the Royal Academy, 1881 by William Powell Frith, a satire of the Aesthetic style of dress. Oscar Wilde is depicted at the right, surrounded by admirers.

Template:Unreferenced section The philosophies of irrationalism and aestheticism formed as a cultural reaction against positivism during the early 20th century. These perspectives opposed or deemphasized the importance of the rationality of human beings. Instead, they concentrated on the experience of one's own existence.

Part of the philosophies involved claims that science was inferior to intuition. Art was considered especially prestigious, as it was considered to represent the noumenon. The style was not accepted greatly by the public, as the social system generally limited access of the art to the elite.

Some of the proponents of this style were Fyodor Dostoevsky, Henri Bergson, Lev Shestov and Georges Sorel. Symbolism and existentialism derived from these philosophies.

See also

• Artistic Dress movement
• Anglo-Japanese style
• List of poetry groups and movements

References

• 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 (1809-74).www.vam.ac.uk/collection/paintings/features/owen-jones/index/

External links

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• Aesthetes & Decadents on Victorian Web
• Annandale National Historic Site
• Books, Research & Information
• Cliff's Notes: Oscar Wilde's Aesthetics
• "Aestheticism Style Guide". British Galleries. Victoria and Albert Museum. http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/british_galleries/bg_styles/Style08a/homepage.html. Retrieved 2007-07-17. 

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