====== Aestheticism & Decadence ======

The **Aesthetic Movement** was born in universities and intellectual circles in the second half of 19th century. Starting in France with Gautier, it reflected the artist's gripes with materialism and the bourgeoisie's fixation with a strict moral code, along with an interest in renewing art. Consequently, French artists broke from the political and social scene to escape in the 'aesthetic' (bohémien) lifestyle of isolation: "Art for Art's Sake", in cultivation of art and beauty and against the monotony and vulgarity of bourgeois life.

It was **James Whistler**, an American painter who worked in England who introduced this doctrine in Britain. Romantic poet John Keats could already be seen as the predecessor to the English Aesthetic Movement, along with Rossetti, Ruskin and Pater. **Walter Pater** published two extremely successful works, //Studies in the History of the Renaissance// and //History of Marius the Epicurean// which explored the potential of art to serve as means to halt the passage of time, and gave his radical point of view on the importance of living life at its fullest, 'as a work of art', while rejecting religious faith. The artist was to gain a sense for the world around him and portray the impression it left on them, abandoning completely the didactic aspect of his pieces. This principle was fully embraced by **Oscar Wilde**, along with the other great exponents of a new movement: **Decadence**.

Primary features of Aesthetic works:
  * excessive attention to the self
  * hedonistic and sensuous attitude
  * perversity in the subject matter
  * disenchantment with contemporary society
  * evocative use of language

Decadence is primarily a European movement. Its greatest exponents were the French writes of the //Le Décadent// journal, and the Italians D'Annunzio, Pascoli and Gozzano. Rilke was one of the most noteworthy German Decadents.