AESTHETICISM: ORIGIN, CHARACTERISTICS, AUTHORS, REPRESENTATIVE WORKS - ART - 2024

The aestheticism stood out as an important art form in England, especially in the last period of the nineteenth century. It is a style that was based on the belief that art revolved only around the attractiveness of things.

In this way, ideas about social, political or any other type of motivation lost weight. It affected all possible artistic branches, from literature, to interior design, architecture or painting.

Oscar Wilde was one of the greatest representatives of aestheticism.

Aestheticism represented in England the same as symbolism or decadentism for French and Italian artists. In this sense, it was very common for decadentists to make use of the phrase “art for art's sake”, an idea put forward by the poet Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier and which became the motto of the beauticians of the time.

Like almost all artistic movements, aestheticism was born out of a denial of previous periods or ideas. He showed opposition to materialism and the boom that existed in the scientific area, understanding that the way to combat these ideas was to venerate the beauty of things.

One of the most relevant figures of aestheticism was Oscar Wilde, both for better and for worse. The English writer adopted aestheticism as a way of life, but it was one of the great culprits of its decline years later.

Origin

Aestheticism was the period before modernism. Its starting point was in England in the middle of the 19th century as a way of turning its back on the industrialization of things.

Like all artistic periods that have been lived throughout history, aestheticism took some characteristics of some past movements and repudiated the ideas of others. Although the central goal was always to exalt the beauty of things.

During the 1980s, natural aspects and the presence of floral themes took on a lot of popularity.

The opposition of the beauticians to Immanuel Kant was very evident. The reason was that the philosopher suggested that to create artistic works, rules based on morality, the end of things and the entertainment they generated should be followed.

The architect and designer William Morris, the painter James McNeill Whistler, Dante Rossetti and Aubrey Beardsley were very important figures for the birth of aestheticism as a movement.

The painting was perhaps the branch that served to start the period. Historians believe that this was because it was the discipline in which the new idea of ​​just thinking about art for its beauty could be embodied more easily.

The search for beauty as the maximum expression made the use of simple lines and the use of colors common. Designers became highly sought after and relevant characters.

Even fashion experienced its particular revolution. Dresses began to be created with lighter fabrics and designs that were not so rigid.

characteristics

As previously emphasized, the main element of aestheticism is that everything was based on the beauty of things. Art had no other function than just being art. The idea that works should be carried out for educational, moral or social purposes was left behind.

It was a response against previous moves. The peacock, a bird of great beauty due to its many colors, was the symbol of this artistic period.

This movement very similar to what in other parts of Europe was experienced as symbolism and decadence.

critics

Like any new idea, aestheticism was the focus of much criticism. Those who were against this movement complained that the idea that only beauty mattered was very banal and that the intellectual had to be put aside. While other people considered it a movement of people with a lot of economic power.

The German writer Thomas Mann expressed his opposition to these ideas in the book Tristan.

In spite of everything, it was a period that fell into contradictions. Artists during aestheticism ensured that beauty was not only superficial. They carried out philosophical processes to create their works or content in cases such as painting or literature.

In the end, aestheticism even became a way of life beyond being an artistic period. Oscar Wilde became one of the greatest exponents of this commitment to aesthetic thinking at a professional level and in his personal life.

Authors and representative works

The period of aestheticism had many representatives of great importance in the different branches of art. The Englishman Walter Horatio Pater was very influential among writers; William Morris served in different areas; Dante Gabriel Rossetti was well known for his paintings or Stéphane Mallarmé for his poems.

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

The Irishman was a very important character for the writing of the aesthetic movement. He wrote works of great popularity such as The Picture of Dorian Gray or The Nightingale and the Rose. Although Intenciones is the work that most represents his link with aestheticism.

He was highly criticized by other artists of the time.

John Ruskin (1819-1900)

He also excelled in the area of ​​literature. He was the author of Modern Painters, The Seven Lamps of Architecture or The Stones of Venice.

Walter Pater (1839-1894)

He was one of the most influential writers of the time. The work Mario the Epicurean is one of the most important of the aesthetic period. French ideas helped his formation and development in art.

Christopher Dresser (1834-1904)

He stood out in the design part. It followed a more industrial line. One of his most important jobs was the creation of a kettle that was far removed from the traditional design.

George Aitchison (1825-1910)

He was an architect who worked for Frederic Leighton in the creation of his house. The work came to be considered the most important of aestheticism and became a private palace for art. All the details about the furniture, fabrics, paintings and art present in the building were chosen with special attention.

Decline

Aestheticism came to an end during the last years of the 19th century. One of the reasons was the judicial problems that the writer Oscar Wilde had. He was accused of having homosexual relationships with young people. These types of encounters for the time were considered indecent and immoral.

The rejection of homosexuality increased after the Wilde trials and its association with aestheticism was very damaging to art. That is why the exponents of this artistic movement began to ignore the ideas of seeking beauty.

The book Degeneration, published in 1895 by Max Nordau, also played a major role in turning the back on aestheticism.

Wilde was sentenced to spend a couple of years of forced labor, being a symbol of the end of aestheticism and the birth of the foundations of modernism.

References

1. Comfort, K. (2008). Art and life in aestheticism. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
2. Hogarth, W. (2015). Aestheticism in Art. New York: Confidential Concepts.
3. Johnson, R. (1973). Aestheticism. London: Methuen.
4. Loesberg, J. (2014). Aestheticism and Deconstruction. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
5. Hopefully, A. (1954). Aestheticism and Oscar Wilde. Helsinki.