The Aesthetic Movement

Week 2:The Aesthetic

Movement

The History of Interior Design 2INT262

Instructor: Kieran Mahon

Class reminders/pointers:

- Thurs 18th November - morning visit- Portal - check it out- Weekly reading - will be on portal in two weeks- Essays- Groups- This Thursday visit to Leighton House - leave AIU ! at 2pm sharp

Brief Recap onVictorian Revivalism

Parthenon, Athens, Greece (431 B.C.)

British Museum (established 1753, present location opened 1857)Robert Smirke

Engravings by William Gilpin

Strawberry Hill, Twickenham (from 1747)Horace Walpole et al.

John Ruskin (1819-1900)

A.W.N. Pugin (1812-52)

Salisbury Cathedral, 12th century

Contrasts (1836)A.W.N. Pugin

New Westminster Palace (Houses of Paliament), 1844-1852Charles Barry (exterior) and A.W.N. Pugin (interior)

House of LordsA.W.N. Pugin

Oxford University Museum (1858)Deane & WoodwardInfluenced by John Ruskin. What style is this?

Oxford University MuseumDeane & Woodward, 1858

How is this different to Pugin’s interiors?

Week 2:The Aesthetic Movement,

c.1870 - 1901

The Aesthetic Movement - Overview

- During the 19th c. there were various forms of opposition to historicism, decorative display and excess in the prevailing design fashions- Opposition appeared in various forms - including the Aesthetic movement and later Arts & Crafts- Increase in mass consumerism and mass media (advertising, newspapers & magazines - art is commodified as well)

The Aesthetic Movement - Overview

- Also known as Aestheticism, Symbolism or Decadence- A 19th c. movement that emphasised aesthetic values over moral or social themes in literature, fine art, the decorative arts and interior design- A reaction to earlier, more conservative Victorian values ! (eg: Ruskin - more about him next week)- A loose collection of artists, writers and thinkers adopt the ! motto ‘Art for art’s sake’ (from French l’art pour l’art)- Preempts aspects of modernism (refined, geometric, lack ! of ornament - towards minimalism)

The Aesthetic Movement - Overview

- Decadent writers followed Walter Pater’s Studies in the History of the Renaissance (1873), which stated life should be lived intensely ‘burn always with this hard, gem-like flame’

- Aesthetes held that:! - The arts should offer sensuous pleasure rather than ! convey moral or sentimental messages! - Art should not be seen as something moral or useful ! (like Pugin & Ruskin did)! - Art should not have a didactic (educational) purpose - it ! should just be beautiful! - Life should imitate art

Some key characteristics of the Aesthetic movement:

- Suggestion rather than sentiment- Sensuality- Use of symbols ! (eg flowers: sunflower - infatuation/passion; lilly - purity/! beauty etc)- Synaesthetic effects ! (using different senses simultaneously !eg: words, colours ! and music)

Oscar Wilde (1882)

Other noted aesthetes included:

- Algernon Charles Swinburne (poet)- James McNeil Whistler (artist)- Dante Gabriel Rossetti (artist)- Edward Burne-Jones (artist)

The Aesthetic Movement in the decorative arts:

- Ebonized wood with gilt highlights (wood often stained black)- Japanese influence (trade with Japan and 1885 Japanese ! Exhibition in Knightsbridge)- Prominent use of nature (especially flowers, gingko leaves and ! peacock feathers)- Blue and white design on porcelain and china

Christopher Dresser (1834 - 1901)

Wallpaper designs by Christopher Dresser

Design Work by Christopher Dresser, 1876

Table by Christopher Dresser, c.1872

Table by Christopher Dresser

Teapot by Christopher Dresser, 1879

Edward William Godwin (1833 - 1886)

Ellen Terry ChoosingG F Watts, 1864

Ellen Terry & daughter Edith Craigin Japanese influenced costume (Kimono)

Sketches by E.W. Godwin

Sketches by E.W. Godwin

Design by E.W. Godwin

Sketches by E.W. Godwin

Sketches by E.W. Godwin

Sketches by E.W. Godwin

E.W. GodwinDesign for Dromore Castlec.1869

Godwin furniture made by William WattSold as ‘Art Furniture’, 1877

Features of Anglo-Japanese Style:

Furniture:! - Simple rectilinear lines! - Simplification of pattern and motif! - Value placed on the hand-made! - Range of materials from expensive ebony to humble paper and ! ! beech

- Ceramics:! ! - The presence of the hand (hand molding ‘raku’ style)! ! - Acceptance and celebration of imperfection! ! - When mass produced style is evoked by vignettes of ! ! ! ! bamboo, paper fans and scenes of Japan

E.W. Godwinc.1869

E.W. GodwinFour Seasons Cabinetc.1877

Dresser by E.W. Godwin, 1877

E.W. Godwin44 Tite Street, Chelsea1878-79

E.W. Godwin44 Tite Street, Chelsea1878-79

Thomas Jeckyll and James McNeil WhistlerPeacock Room, reassembled in the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.

Charles Locke EastlakeDining Room Sideboard1874

Next Week...

- Read ch. 5 & 6 of Curtis, Modern Architecture since 1900- Group 2 presentation on Red House, William Morris and ! Interior Design- Lecture on the Arts and Crafts Movement