Victorian Aestheticism

Researching for a paper on artist Frederic Leighton introduced me to a great book:
"Art for Art's Sake: Aestheticism in Victorian Painting" by Elizabeth Prettejohn.

The book includes essays on a number of Victorian painters, some of the first to express aesthetic values, and the formative characters of the Aesthetic movement, including Frederic Lord Leighton, Albert Moore, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and James Abbott McNeill Whistler. The essays talk about each painter in the way that his work specifically addresses aesthetic concerns, or diverts from the academic traditions of the day, and the realism of Pre-Raphaelite painting. For anyone like myself, with an interest in 19th century Aestheticism, or even 19th century art in general, this book will be an interesting and educational read.

The essay on Frederic Leighton is really interesting for explaining his background, association with the Royal Academy in London, and the way he creates a relationship between his academic working process and aesthetic ideals. The book also gave me my first real introduction to the work of Albert Moore, whose paintings utilize repetition, rhythm, and other musical ideas in visual form, which parallel the symphonic references of Whistler. The information on his use of repetition as a compositional device was unexpectedly relevant to my own taste and ways of thinking about organizing an image and controlling the gaze of the viewer.

Frederic Leighton:


Pavonia, 1858













 Icarus and Daedalus, 1869












Albert Moore:



Dreamers, 1879-82

The Quartet,1868






Apples, 1875

Latest Reading

I am currently absorbed in The Art Spirit by Robert Henri. The book is an unorganized collection of the artist/teacher's writings and musings, compiled by the man himself. The subjects range from the broader questions surrounding the work and spirit of an artist to formal and technical advice for painters of any experience level.

This work was a lucky stumble, for though I've seen it in the store before, this time the subject was particularly related to what I was looking for. I highly recommend the work, while I am only 25% through it, for to quote Henri directly,

"If the artist is alive in you, you may meet Greco nearer than

many people, also Plato, Shakespeare, the Greeks.

In certain books-- some way in the first few paragraphs you know

that you have met a brother."


Henri taught at the Art Students League in New York and contained in his book are quite a few letters to his students discussing such subjects as commencement, backgrounds, hair, solidity, color, brush strokes, etc. He often drops artists' names for reference to illustrate specific points, and suggests more books for further reading on certain subjects.

In short, the book is a perfect jumping off point for any art student, covering all bases of study and providing many additional resources with which the reader can choose to envelope himself further. The book's format makes it an easy and fast read, such that it isn't meant to be read necessarily from cover to cover, but to be used and consulted as a guide or resource.

At the same time keep in mind (as Henri states himself) that the opinions and advice expressed are derived from the experiences of one man, and as such the reader is free to agree or contest as he will. Personally I have thus far found Henri's advice particularly enlightening even in so far as being some of those things you already know, but hearing them from a respected voice confirms them and awakens them in your awareness.

I find myself inspired and excited to take on some new work with this advice in mind. It is my recommendation that any artist, but most particularly painters, invest a little in this short, cheap book. Perhaps you too will find a brother in Henri.