Exercises

• The Aesthetic Movement began at the end of the 19th century in universities and circles. In particular, it began in France with Theophile Gautier.
• It reflected the sense of frustration and uncertainty of the artist and reacted against the materialism and the restrictive moral code of the bourgeoisie.
• Its motto was “Art for Art’s Sake”. The expression underlines the character of isolation from the political and social scene of the movement.
• The Aesthete lived an unconventional existence, pursuing sensation and excess and cultivating art and beauty.

The term “Pre-Raphaelite” came INTO use when the young painters Hunt and Millais, criticising the style of Raphael AND his followers. [..] The movement began at THE end of the 1840s, AS an attempt to introduce IN visual art, not only the qualities of medieval Italian painting, but concern with naturalistic accuracy FOR detail. The Pre-Raphaelite painters turned their eyes away FROM the ugly contemporary industrial and urban world and conceived the creation of beauty as A duty owned to society. [..] The second phase of the Pre-Raphaelitism, WHICH developed from the late 1850s under the direction of Rossetti, was Aesthetic Pre-Raphaelitism. It led to Morris’ Arts and Craft Movement, which advocated the renewed use of handcraft and simple decoration in reaction TO industrial machinery and contemporary aesthetic eclecticism. The firm designed and manufactured in a great variety of media, including stained glass, hand-painted tiles, tapestries and other woven textiles, embroideries, rugs and carpets, as WELL as hand-printed wallpapers and chintzes OF which THE Victorian interiors were furnished. [..]