Aestheticism, also called the aesthetic movement, was an art movement in the late 1800s. It focused on the beauty of art, music, literature, and design rather than their usefulness. Aestheticism believed that art should be created to be beautiful, not to teach lessons or serve other purposes. This idea was summarized in the phrase "art for art's sake." The movement became popular in the 1870s and 1880s, with support from famous writers like Walter Pater and Oscar Wilde. People who followed Aestheticism were called Aesthetes.

Aestheticism disagreed with the values of Victorian culture, which often believed that art and literature had important moral purposes. Fiona MacCarthy wrote in The Guardian that the aesthetic movement stood in sharp contrast to the focus on wealth and possessions in 19th-century Britain.

The term "Aestheticism" was first used by critic Walter Hamilton in his book The Aesthetic Movement in England (1882). By the 1890s, a related term called "decadence" was being used across Europe.

Origin

Aestheticism began with German Romanticism. The word "aesthetic" comes from Greek, but Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten used it in his work Aesthetica, published in 1750. Later, Immanuel Kant included the term in his philosophy in Critique of Judgment, published in 1790. Kant influenced Friedrich Schiller, who wrote Aesthetic Letters in 1794. In these letters, Schiller described art as "Spiel," or "Play," saying, "Man is never so serious as when he plays; man is wholly man only when he plays." Schiller believed art could save human dignity, writing: "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 spread to English-speaking countries, largely because of Thomas Carlyle. His works, including Life of Friedrich Schiller (1825), Critical and Miscellaneous Essays, and Sartor Resartus (1833–1834), introduced and promoted aestheticism. Though Carlyle did not use the word "aesthetic" first in English, he helped make it widely known. Ruth apRoberts called him the "apostle of aesthetics in England, 1825–1827," recognizing his key role in shaping the aesthetic movement.

Aesthetic literature

The British Decadent writers were greatly influenced by Walter Pater, an Oxford professor whose essays from 1867–1868 emphasized living life intensely and seeking beauty. His book, Studies in the History of the Renaissance (1873), became popular among young men interested in art during the late 19th century. Writers of the Decadent movement used the slogan "Art for Art's Sake" (L'art pour l'art), though its origin is debated. Some say the phrase was first used by Victor Cousin, but Angela Leighton points to Benjamin Constant, who used it in 1804. It is widely believed that Théophile Gautier popularized the phrase in France, stating that art and morality were separate.

Artists and writers of the Aesthetic style believed art should provide refined, sensory pleasure rather than deliver moral or emotional messages. They rejected the ideas of John Ruskin, Matthew Arnold, and George MacDonald, who saw art as a tool for teaching truth or usefulness. Instead, Aesthetes argued that art needed no purpose other than beauty. They believed life should imitate art, considering nature less refined than artistic creations. Key features of the style included using symbols, focusing on sensations, and connecting words, colors, and music to create unique effects. Music was often used to set a mood.

John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and the Pre-Raphaelites, who were influenced by Romanticism, were early influences on Aestheticism. Both movements shared ideas such as valuing beauty, escaping into art, and blending different art forms. Théophile Gautier’s poem L'Art compared poets to sculptors and painters. Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Edward Burne-Jones were closely linked to Aestheticism, though they focused on beauty and creativity rather than strictly following the "Art for Art's Sake" philosophy. Their work reflected a desire to bring beauty to a dull world, similar to the Pre-Raphaelites’ use of art as an escape.

In Britain, key figures included Oscar Wilde, Algernon Charles Swinburne, James McNeill Whistler, and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Their style was mocked in Gilbert and Sullivan’s opera Patience, in F. C. Burnand’s play The Colonel, and in magazines like Punch, especially in works by George Du Maurier.

Compton Mackenzie’s novel Sinister Street portrays the Aesthetic movement as a phase in the protagonist’s life, shaped by older, Decadent individuals. Evelyn Waugh, who was part of the Aesthetic community at Oxford, wrote about Aesthetes both satirically and from personal experience. Other figures associated with this group include Robert Byron, Harold Acton, Nancy Mitford, A.E. Housman, and Anthony Powell.

Aesthetic fine art

Artists connected to the Aesthetic style include Simeon Solomon, James McNeill Whistler, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Albert Joseph Moore, GF Watts, and Aubrey Beardsley. Although Edward Burne-Jones’s artwork was displayed at the Grosvenor Gallery, which supported the movement, his paintings often told stories and included moral or emotional messages, which made them not fully aligned with the movement’s goals.

Artists like Rossetti focused on painting beautiful women rather than delivering moral messages, as seen in the well-known works “Lady Lilith” and “Mona Vanna.” John Ruskin, who was once a friend of Rossetti, stated that Rossetti was “lost in the Inferno of London.” Throughout his career, Rossetti created many Aesthetic-style paintings, including “Venus Verticordia” and “Proserpine.”

Aesthetic decorative arts

Christopher Dresser believed that the main purpose of decorative art is to be useful. The idea that "art for art's sake" is important in other areas of the Aesthetic Movement, such as fine art, does not apply to decorative art. Decorative art must first be practical, but it can also be beautiful. However, Michael Shindler argued that decorative art was not just a less important part of the Aesthetic Movement but was a key way for artists to express their design ideas. Shindler explained that aestheticism arose from the challenge of connecting one's life to their work, and artists tried to solve this by creating works that could become living artworks. As a result, beautiful objects became important symbols in a drama where artists were seen as central figures rather than background helpers. Aesthetes created idols from portraits, prayers from poems, altars from writing desks, chapels from dining rooms, and even saw others as fallen angels.

Government Schools of Design were started in 1837 to improve the quality of British goods. After the Great Exhibition of 1851, more effort was made to improve design, and objects from other cultures were added to the schools' teaching collections. Owen Jones, an architect and expert on other cultures, was asked to explain key design principles. These principles became the foundation of the schools' teaching and also formed the basis of his book The Grammar of Ornament (1856), which is still considered one of the best sources on historical design.

Jones believed a new, modern style was needed for the modern world, rather than repeating old styles, but he did not oppose learning from the past. Christopher Dresser, a student and later professor at the school, worked with Owen Jones on The Grammar of Ornament and on the 1863 decoration of the Chinese, Japanese, and Indian sections at the South Kensington Museum (now the Victoria and Albert Museum). Dresser also wrote two books, The Art of Decorative Design (1862) and Principles of Design (1873), to help develop a new style.

Aesthetic-style furniture was made mainly in the late 19th century. This style often includes:
– Ebonised furniture, which is wood painted or stained to look like black ebony. Sometimes the entire piece is black, but often it has gold details on carved parts like feathers or flowers.
– Nature themes, such as gilded flowers or stylized peacock feathers, and painted birds or flowers. Non-ebonised furniture may have realistic carvings of birds or flowers.
– Blue and white designs on porcelain and china, using similar nature themes like peacock feathers. These designs were also used on square tiles. Oscar Wilde, a famous figure of the movement, used aesthetic decorations in his youth. This style was also mocked in Punch magazine and the play Patience.

In 1882, Oscar Wilde visited Canada and gave a lecture in Woodstock, Ontario, titled "The House Beautiful." In this lecture, Wilde explained the Aesthetic Movement’s ideas about using local plants and animals in design and creating layered ceilings. An example of this style can be seen at Annandale National Historic Site in Tillsonburg, Canada. The house, built in 1880, was decorated by Mary Ann Tillson, who attended Wilde’s lecture.

The Aesthetic Movement was popular in decorative arts from about 1880 to 1890, so few examples of this style remain. One example is 18 Stafford Terrace in London, which shows how middle-class people used Aesthetic ideas. Another example is Olana, the home of artist Frederic Edwin Church in upstate New York, which reflects the use of exotic designs in the movement.

Influence on advertising

The art movement in England worked with advertising. In 1882, Pears soap, led by advertising pioneer Thomas J. Barratt, hired English actress and celebrity Lillie Langtry to promote their products. Lillie Langtry was painted by artists who focused on beauty and was a friend of Oscar Wilde. She became the first celebrity to support a product sold to the public.