Aestheticism Canada - Photography Terms & Glossary

Glossary Of Art Terms [1]

Aestheticism Aestheticism emerged as a provocative cultural movement in the late 19th century, challenging prevailing Victorian norms and values by championing the pursuit of beauty, sensual pleasure, and artistic self-expression as intrinsic to the human experience. Rejecting the moralistic didacticism and social utility espoused by mainstream Victorian culture, aestheticism celebrated art for art's sake, asserting the autonomy of aesthetic experience and the primacy of individual sensibility over moral or utilitarian concerns.

Figures such as Oscar Wilde and Algernon Charles Swinburne exemplified the ethos of aestheticism through their writings, which exalted the pursuit of beauty, refinement, and hedonistic pleasure as the highest ideals of human existence. Embracing a philosophy of "artifice over nature" and "style over substance," aestheticism advocated for the cultivation of exquisite craftsmanship, refined taste, and aesthetic refinement as the hallmarks of a truly civilized society, inspiring subsequent generations of artists, writers, and intellectuals to challenge conventional notions of artistic purpose, morality, and social responsibility.