Aestheticism Art for arts sake… Tyler and Matt T

What is Aestheticism Art that serves no other purpose than to be beautiful. Hence the motto of the movement: “Art for art’s sake” It Is the idea that art, be it visual or literary is created to serve as amusement, as apposed to having some sort of function. While Aesthetics were appreciated, it was because they helped deliver a simple message. Art before this movement almost always had a didactic or symbolic motive. Artists prior to this movement were often considered teachers

History and contributions 19 th century artists considered the fact that art doesn’t have to have utility. For the last two decades of the 19 th century these artists tried to liberate art from the burden of teaching or instruction. They supposed that art should be judged more for its beauty as opposed to its content. A large group of supporters in this time period would be the Pre- Raphaelites

The Pre-Raphaelites

-Brotherhood of artists ranging in visual and literary arts

-Founded by William Holman Hunt ( ) in 1845

-D.G. Rossetti, John Everett Millais ( ), William Michael Rossetti, James Collinson, Thomas Woolner, and F. G. Stephens were other founding members.

. Rules composed by usual art schools, such as the Royal Academy of Arts, taught certain guidelines of art, most of which the P.R disregarded

- Most P.R literature was considered to be “typological realism”.

-Aesthetic Pre Raphaelites such as Edward Burn Jones concentrated on erotic medievalism and functional design in the visual arts.

Elizabeth Siddal’s poem The Lust of the Eyes

I care not for my Lady’s soul Though I worship before her smile; I care not where be my Lady’s goal When her beauty shall lose its wile.

Low sit I down at my Lady’s feet Gazing through her wild eyes Smiling to think how my love will fleet When their starlike beauty dies.

I care not if my Lady pray To our Father which is in Heaven But for joy my heart’s quick pulses play For to me her love is given.

Then who shall close my Lady’s eyes And who shall fold her hands? Will any hearken if she cries Up to the unknown lands.

Oscar Wilde and Algernon Charles Swinburne, and Dante Gabriel Rossetti are some of the biggest names in aesthetic art: Oscar Wilde

Algernon Charles Swinburne Dante Gabriel Rossettie

Rossetti was born in London on 12 May 1828 and he died on Easter Day, 9 April He was a painter, writer and translator

Books: the blessed damozel, the house of life: a sonnet sequence, la vita nuova( predecessor to the infamous Devine Comedy)

Oscar Wilde born Oct. 16, 1854, Dublin, Ire. died Nov. 30, 1900, Paris, France.

B ooks: the picture of Dorian Gray ( only novel) Other notable literature: The Importance of Being Earnest

The Aestheticism movement of the late 19 th century, was controversial in it’s time, but played a key role in shaping the modern definition of art, and it’s supporters influenced generations of artists to come.