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Aestheticism

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(Redirected fromAesthetic Movement)
Not to be confused withAsceticism.
"Aesthete" redirects here. For the visual system of chitons, seeAesthete (chiton).For the group of poets, seeHarvard Aesthetes.

ThePeacock Room,designed in theAnglo-Japanese stylebyJames Abbott McNeill WhistlerandEdward Godwin,one of the most famous and comprehensive examples of Aesthetic interior design

Aestheticism(also known as theaesthetic movement) was anart movementin the late 19th century that valued theappearanceofliterature,music,fonts and theartsover their functions.[1][2]According to Aestheticism, art should be produced to be beautiful, rather than to teach alesson,create aparallel,or perform anotherdidacticpurpose, a sentiment best illustrated by the slogan "art for art's sake."Aestheticism flourished in the 1870s and 1880s, gaining prominence and the support of notable writers such asWalter PaterandOscar Wilde.

Aestheticism challenged the values of mainstreamVictorian culture,as many Victorians believed that literature and art fulfilled important ethical roles.[3]Writing inThe Guardian,Fiona McCarthy states that "the aesthetic movement stood in stark and sometimes shocking contrast to the crassmaterialismofBritainin the 19th century. "[4]

Aestheticism was named by the critic Walter Hamilton inThe Aesthetic Movement in Englandin 1882.[5]By the 1890s,decadence,a term with origins in common with aestheticism, was in use acrossEurope.[3]

Origin

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Aestheticism has its roots inGerman Romanticism.Though the term "aesthetic" derives from Greek,Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten'sAesthetica(1750) made important use of it in German beforeImmanuel Kantincorporated it into his philosophy in theCritique of Judgment(1790). Kant, in turn, influencedFriedrich Schiller'sAesthetic Letters(1794) and his concept of art asSpiel(Play): "Man is never so serious as when he plays; man is wholly man only when he plays". In theLetters,Schiller proclaimed salvation through art:

Man has lost his dignity, but Art has saved it, and preserved it for him in expressive marbles. Truth still lives in fiction, and from the copy the original will be restored.

These ideas were imported to the English-speaking world largely through the efforts ofThomas Carlyle,whoseLife of Friedrich Schiller(1825),Critical and Miscellaneous EssaysandSartor Resartus(1833–34) introduced and advocated aestheticism while also, if not marking the earliest use of the word "aesthetic" in the English language, certainly popularising it.Ruth apRobertsdeclared him the "apostle of aesthetics in England, 1825–27", in recognition of his pioneering influence on the subsequent development of the aesthetic movement.[6]

Aesthetic literature

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The British decadent writers were much influenced by theOxfordprofessorWalter Paterand his essays published during 1867–68, in which he stated that one had to live life intensely, and seek beauty. His textStudies in the History of the Renaissance(1873) was very popular among art-oriented young men of the late 19th century. Writers of theDecadent movementused the slogan "Art for Art's Sake"(L'art pour l'art), the origin of which is debated. Some claim that it was created by the philosopherVictor Cousin,althoughAngela Leightonnotes that it was used byBenjamin Constantas early as 1804 in the workOn Form: Poetry, Aestheticism and the Legacy of a Word(2007)[7]It is generally accepted to have been popularised byThéophile GautierinFrance,who used the phrase to suggest that art andmoralitywere separate.

One of manyPunchcartoons 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 acceptJohn Ruskin,Matthew Arnold,andGeorge MacDonald's conception of art as something moral or useful, "Art for truth's sake".[8]Instead, they believed that Art did not have anydidacticpurpose; it only needed to 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, andsynaesthetic/Ideastheticeffects—that is, correspondence between words, colours and music. Music was used to establish mood.[citation needed]

Predecessors of the Aesthetes includedJohn KeatsandPercy Bysshe Shelley,and some of thePre-Raphaeliteswho themselves were a legacy of the Romantic spirit. There are a few significant continuities between the Pre-Raphaelite philosophy and that of the Aesthetes: Dedication to the idea of 'Art for Art's Sake'; admiration of, and constant striving for, beauty; escapism through visual and literary arts; craftsmanship that is both careful and self-conscious; mutual interest in merging the arts of various media. This final idea is promoted in the poemL'ArtbyThéophile Gautier,who compared the poet to the sculptor and painter.[9]Dante Gabriel RossettiandEdward Burne-Jonesare most strongly associated with Aestheticism. However, their approach to Aestheticism did not share the creed of 'Art for Art's Sake' but rather "a spirited reassertion of those principles of colour, beauty, love, and cleanness that the drab, agitated, discouraging world of the mid-nineteenth century needed so much."[10]This reassertion of beauty in a drab world also connects to Pre-Raphaelite escapism in art and poetry.

In Britain the best representatives wereOscar Wilde,Algernon Charles Swinburne(both influenced by the French Symbolists),James McNeill WhistlerandDante Gabriel Rossetti.These writers and their style were satirised byGilbert and Sullivan's comic operaPatienceand other works, such asF. C. Burnand's dramaThe Colonel,and in comic magazines such asPunch,particularly in works by George Du Maurier.[11]

Compton Mackenzie's novelSinister Streetmakes use of the type as a phase through which the protagonist passes as he is influenced by older, decadent individuals. The novels ofEvelyn 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 areRobert Byron,Evelyn Waugh,Harold Acton,Nancy Mitford,A.E. HousmanandAnthony Powell.

Aesthetic fine art

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CanariesbyAlbert Joseph Moore,ca. 1875–1880. Moore was among a group of artists whose work was exhibited at theGrosvenor Galleryin London.[4]

Artists associated with the Aesthetic style includeSimeon Solomon,James McNeill Whistler,Dante Gabriel Rossetti,Albert Joseph Moore,GF WattsandAubrey Beardsley.[4]Although the work ofEdward Burne-Joneswas exhibited at theGrosvenor Gallerywhich promoted the movement, it is narrative and conveys moral or sentimental messages hence falling outside the movement's purported programme.

“Lady Lilith” by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Artists such as Rossetti focused more on simply painting beautiful women than aiming for a moral message, as is apparent in the famous “Lady Lilith”and “Mona Vanna.”[12][13]John Ruskin,a former friend of Rossetti's, said that Rossetti was “lost in the Inferno of London.”[14]Rossetti painted many more aestheticism paintings in his life, including “Venus Verticordia”and “Proserpine.”

Aesthetic decorative arts

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Aesthetic Brass Table by Bradley & Hubbard Company (see A Brass Menagerie, Metalwork of the Aesthetic Movement)
Aesthetic Movement antiques atFlorian Papp,New York City

According toChristopher Dresser,the primary element of decorative art is utility. The maxim "art for art's sake," identifying art or beauty as the primary element in other branches of the Aesthetic Movement, especiallyfine art,cannot apply in this context. That is, decorative art must first have utility, but may also be beautiful.[15]However, according to Michael Shindler, the decorative art branch of the Aesthetic Movement, was less the utilitarian cousin of Aestheticism's main 'pure' branch, and more the very means by which aesthetes exercised their fundamental design strategy. Likecontemporary art,Shindler writes that aestheticism was born of "the conundrum of constituting one’s life in relation to an exterior work" and that it "attempted to overcome" this problem "by subsuming artists within their work in the hope of yielding—more than mere objects—lives which could be living artworks." Thus, "beautiful things became the sensuous set pieces of a drama in which artists were not like their forebears a sort of crew of anonymous stagehands, but stars. Consequently, aesthetes made idols ofportraits,prayers of poems, altars of writing desks, chapels of dining rooms, and fallen angels of their fellow men. "[16]

Government Schools of Design were founded from 1837 onwards in order to improve the design of British goods. Following theGreat Exhibition of 1851efforts were intensified and oriental objects were purchased for the schools teaching collections.Owen Jones,architect andorientalist,was requested to set out key principles of design and these became not only the basis of the schools teaching but also the propositions that prefaceThe 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 that 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 onThe Grammar of Ornament,as well as on the 1863 decoration of the oriental courts (Chinese, Japanese, and Indian) at the South Kensington Museum (now the Victoria and Albert Museum), advanced the search for a new style with his two publicationsThe Art of Decorative Design1862, andPrinciples of Design1873.

Production of Aesthetic style furniture was limited to approximately the late 19th century.[citation needed]Aesthetic style furniture is characterized by several common themes:

  • Ebonizedwood with gilt highlights.
  • Far Eastern influence.
  • Prominent use of nature, especially flowers, birds,ginkgoleaves, and peacock feathers.
  • Blue and white onporcelainand other fine china.

Ebonized furniture means that the wood is painted or stained to a blackebonyfinish. 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]

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 three-dimensional-like renditions of birds or flowers carved into the wood.

Oscar Wildelectured on the "English Renaissance in Art" during his North America tour in 1882

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 thatOscar Wildeused aesthetic decorations during his youth. This aspect of the movement was also satirised byPunchmagazine and inPatience.

In 1882 Oscar Wilde visited Canada, where he toured the town of Woodstock, Ontario and gave a lecture on 29 May titled "The House Beautiful".[17]In this lecture Wilde exposited the principles of the Aesthetic Movement in decorative and applied design, also known at the time as the "Ornamental Aesthetic" style, according to which local flora and fauna were celebrated as beautiful and textured, layered ceilings were popular. An example of this can be seen inAnnandale 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. Since the Aesthetic Movement was only prevalent in the decorative arts from about 1880 until about 1890, there are not many surviving examples of this particular style but one such example is18 Stafford Terrace,London, which provides an insight into how the middle classes interpreted its principles.Olana,the home ofFrederic Edwin Churchin upstate New York, is an important example of exoticism in the Aesthetic Movement decorative arts.[18]

Influence on advertising

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The aesthetic movement in England became directly involved inadvertising,andPears soap(under advertising pioneerThomas J. Barratt) recruited English actress and socialiteLillie Langtry—who had been painted by aesthete artists and was also a friend of Oscar Wilde—to promote their products in 1882, making her the first celebrity to endorse a commercial product.[19][20][21]

See also

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References

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  1. ^Fargis, Paul (1998).The New York Public Library Desk Reference – 3rd Edition.Macmillan General Reference. pp.261.ISBN0-02-862169-7.
  2. ^Denney, Colleen."At the Temple of Art: the Grosvenor Gallery, 1877–1890",Issue 1165, p. 38, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2000ISBN0-8386-3850-3
  3. ^ab"Aestheticism and decadence".British Library.Retrieved2 August2020.
  4. ^abc"The Aesthetic Movement".The Guardian.Retrieved1 September2020.
  5. ^"Aesthetic Movement".Tate.Retrieved1 September2020.
  6. ^ap Roberts, Ruth (1991)."Carlyle and the Aesthetic Movement".Carlyle Annual(12): 57–64.ISSN1050-3099.JSTOR44945538.
  7. ^Angela Leighton (2007) 32.
  8. ^Raeper, William (1987) George MacDonald, p. 183. Tring, Herts., and Batavia, IL: Lion Publishing.
  9. ^McMullen, Lorraine (1971).An Introduction to the Aesthetic Movement in English Literature.Ottawa, ON: Bytown Press. pp. 22–23.
  10. ^Welland, Dennis S. R. (1953).The Pre-Raphaelites in Literature and Art.London, UK: George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd. p. 22.
  11. ^Mendelssohn, Michèle (2007).Henry James, Oscar Wilde and Aesthetic Culture.Edinburgh University Press. pp. 22–30.ISBN978-0748623853.
  12. ^"The Aesthetic Movement (article)".Khan Academy.Retrieved22 September2023.
  13. ^"Aestheticism | Oscar Wilde, Decadence & Symbolism | Britannica".britannica.Retrieved22 September2023.
  14. ^Duggan, Bob (6 November 2011)."Dante Gabriel Rossetti: Painter, Poet, Sexual Revolutionary?".Big Think.Retrieved22 September2023.
  15. ^Christopher Dresser.The Art of Decorative Design1862.
  16. ^Shindler, Michael (2 March 2020)."The Art of Madness and Mystery".Church Life Journal.The McGrath Institute for Church Life, University of Notre Dame.Retrieved10 March2020.
  17. ^O'brien (1982) 114.
  18. ^Burke, Doreen Bolger (1986).In Pursuit of Beauty: Americans and the Aesthetic Movement.New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. p. 20.ISBN9780870994685.
  19. ^Fortunato, Paul (2013).Modernist Aesthetics and Consumer Culture in the Writings of Oscar Wilde.Routledge. p. 33.
  20. ^Jones, Geoffrey (2010).Beauty Imagined: A History of the Global Beauty Industry.Oxford University Press. p. 81.
  21. ^"When Celebrity Endorsers Go Bad".The Washington Post.Retrieved2 March2022.British actress Lillie Langtry became the world's first celebrity endorser when her likeness appeared on packages of Pears Soap.

Sources

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  • Denisoff, Dennis. "Decadence and aestheticism." Cambridge Companion to the Fin de Siecle. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2007.
  • Gal, Michalle.Aestheticism: Deep Formalism and the Emergence of Modernist Aesthetics.Peter Lang AG International Academic Publishers, 2015
  • Gaunt, William.The Aesthetic Adventure.New York: Harcourt, 1945. ISBN None.
  • Halen, Widar.Christopher Dresser, a Pioneer of Modern Design.Phaidon: 1990.ISBN0-7148-2952-8.
  • Lambourne, Lionel.The Aesthetic Movement.Phaidon Press: 1996.ISBN0-7148-3000-3.
  • 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.ISBN1-85177-338-X.
  • Christopher Morley. "'Reform and Eastern Art' in Decorative Arts Society Journal" 2010
  • Gal, Michalle. "Aestheticism, philosophical critique". in Oxford Encyclopedia of Aesthetics (Michael Kelly, ed.). Oxford University Press, 2014.

Further reading

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