Aestheticism

Aestheticism is a European art movement of the second half of the 19th century, which was based on the aesthetics of form, avoiding socio-political and moral-ethical aspects. Aestheticism was formed in the bohemian environment of France, but is most widespread in Great Britain. In painting, it arose as a reaction to the excessive moralizing and social structure of the Victorian era. Rooted in romanticism. Artistic and ethical aestheticism comes into contact with neo-romanticism, symbolism, modernity and impressionism.

The main object of aestheticism painting is a woman, a woman in full growth, occupying the entire space of the canvas, a woman with an amazing figure, a woman in a beautiful fluffy dress to the floor and with an excellent hairdo. But at the same time, the look and facial expressions do not convey valuable human emotions, the artist seems to be painting not a real person but a porcelain doll.

Key ideas:

• Beauty is the absolute supreme value.

• An esthete artist must seek and express what is lacking or not at all in real life, primarily to satisfy his own needs, while dictating tendencies to society in parallel.

• The adherents of aestheticism believed that the only goal of art is to provide fleeting sensual pleasure, which already gives meaning to human life.

• The concept of aestheticism is that it is not people who copy life through painting, but people follow what the paintings tell them, copying the life that is in the paintings. It is comparable to a modern fashionista who chooses a new look through a fashion magazine.

• Characteristic features of aestheticism: subjective idealization, lies, irony, fantasy, pretense, hedonism, separation of aesthetics from ethics.