Concetti Chiave
- The Aesthetic Movement originated in late 19th century France as a response to bourgeois materialism, emphasizing "Art for Art's sake" and led by figures like Thèophile Gautier and Walter Pater.
- Decadent artists focused on self-indulgence, hedonism, and a critical view of society, with a style characterized by evocative language and provocative themes.
- Decadence was a pan-European movement involving writers like Rimbaud, Verlaine, and Baudelaire in France, and D’Annunzio, Pascoli, and Gozzano in Italy.
- The concept of the dandy, popularized by George Brummell, emphasized vanity and elegance, rejecting capitalist values and aligning with movements like Symbolism and Aestheticism.
- The dandyism lifestyle spread from England to France, where it was associated with artistic movements that opposed conventional societal norms.
What are the origins of the aesthetic movement?
The Aesthetic Movement developed in the universities and intellectual circles in the last decades of 19th century. Born in France with Thèophile Gautier (“Smalti e cammei”). It reflected the sense of frustration and uncertainty of the artist, his reaction against the materialism and the restrictive moral code of the bourgeoisie, his need to redefine the role of the art. They desires to escape in an aesthetic isolation called by Gautier “Art for Art’s sake”. The bohemien embodied his protest against the monotony of bourgeois life leading an unconventional life cultivating art and beauty. Walter Pater is the theorist of the Aesthetic Movement in England. In his masterpiece “Marius the Epicurean” (1885) he rejected religious faith and said that art was only means to stop time, the only certainly. Life should be lived in the spirit of art, namely “as a work of art”, filling each passing moment with intense experience, feeling all kinds of sensations.
Characteristics of decadent artists
A number of features can be distinguished in the works of these decadent artists:
-excessive attention to the self;
-hedonistic and sensuous attitude;
-perversity in subject matter;
-disenchantment with contemporary society;
-evocative use of language.
Decadence must be seen as a European movement. In the late 1880s a group of French writers contributed to the journal La Decadent, they were the Symbolists Rimbaud, Verlaine, Baudelaire, Huysmans. The representatives of Decadence in Italy are D’Annunzio, Pascoli, Gozzano.
The concept of the dandy
The term “dandy” is used in a song Yankee Doodle and it’s a world of the song that mocked the garish uniform of the American soldiers. The term referred to a man who boasts about his appearance even through he is wearing odd and ordinary clothes. Vanity, extravagance, refinement were linked to the more positive idea of the dandy which developed with George Brummell. He created dandyism as a lifestyle, from England this trend spread in France where it was connected to those artistic movements, such as Symbolism and Aestheticism, which rejected the capitalistic outlook.
Domande da interrogazione
- What are the origins and key principles of the Aesthetic Movement?
- How did the concept of the dandy evolve and influence artistic movements?
The Aesthetic Movement originated in France in the late 19th century, with Thèophile Gautier's concept of "Art for Art’s sake" as a reaction against bourgeois materialism and moral codes. It emphasized art's role in providing intense experiences and sensations, as articulated by Walter Pater in England.
The concept of the dandy, initially a term mocking American soldiers' attire, evolved into a lifestyle of vanity and refinement with George Brummell. It spread from England to France, influencing movements like Symbolism and Aestheticism, which opposed capitalist values.
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