Pre-Raphaelite/Art & Craft movement/Aesheticism

Pre- Raphaelite Brotherhood  was founded by Dante Gabriel Rossetti in 1848 with William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais, and was later to be the main inspiration for a second generation of artists and writers influenced by the movement, most notably William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones His work also influenced the European Symbolists and was a major precursor of the Aesthetic movement.
Rossetti's art was characterised by its sensuality and its medieval revivalism. ,The Pre-Raphaelite  were a group of English painters and artists, incorporated by the attraction to the aesthetics of medieval and classical poses and elegant compositions.The style features excellent details and vibrant colors. Pre-Rapraelites considered themselves as reformist movement and were also considered the first avant-garde movement. Their aim were to rediscover the nature in painting again, trying to reach maximum details in the painting. They were against the academic painting. They wanted to show the natural and real world using bright and clear techniques on canvas. Rossetti's art was characterised by its sensuality and its medieval revivalism. ,The Pre-Raphaelite  were a group of English painters and artists, incorporated by the attraction to the aesthetics of medieval and classical poses and elegant compositions.The style features excellent details and vibrant colors. Pre-Rapraelites considered themselves as reformist movement and were also considered the first avant-garde movement. Their aim were to rediscover the nature in painting again, trying to reach maximum details in the painting. They were against the academic painting. They wanted to show the natural and real world using bright and clear techniques on canvas. 
 ''Christ in the house of his parents'' was considered blasphemous by many people. The brotherhood's medievalism was attacked as backward-looking and its extreme devotion to detail was condemned as ugly and jarring to the eye. Using ordinary people to portrait religious scene had been very shocking by the time. 

Christ in the House of His Parents, by John Everett Millais, 1850

John Everett Millais  Ophelia , 1851-2

Proserpine by Dante Rossetti

The Art & Craft movement was movement was 19th century movement born of Ideals and Utopian visions.It grew out of concert for the effect of Industrial manufacture and unregulated trade. It advocated the reform of art, a revival to traditional handcrafts from the pre-industrial design, a return to simpler way of life and improvement in the design of ordinary domestic objects. It was formed as a reaction against the growing Industrialisation of Victorian Britain. The movement took it's name from the Art & Crafts exhibition society founded in 1887. The two most influential figures were the artist and critic John Ruskin and the designer, writer and activist William Morris. William Morris and John Ruskin were associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Morris became increasingly fascinated with the idyllic Medievalist depictions of rural life which appeared in the paintings of the Pre-Raphaelites, and spent large sums of money purchasing such artworks. From the 1850s John ruskin championed the Pre-Raphaelite who were influenced by his ideas.  

Basic characteristics of the movement:

• truth to materials. preserving the natural qualities of the materials

• simple forms. no extravagant decoration

• natural motifs. the patterns were inspired by the flora and found of the British countryside

• the vernacular

Detail from a season ticket for The Arts & Crafts Exhibition Society, by Walter Crane

''The Arts and Crafts Movement flourished in large cities such as London, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh. These urban centres had the infrastructure of organisations and patronage that allowed the movement to gather pace. The work itself was created in a variety of situations, ranging from individual and small workshops to larger manufacturers.
Exhibition societies, initially in London and subsequently throughout Britain, gave the movement its name, public identity and a forum for discussion. Progressive new art schools, such as the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London, emphasized handwork and craftsmanship. They encouraged the development of workshops and individuals, as well as the revival of techniques like enamelling, embroidery and calligraphy.
Designers and manufacturers forged new relationships and were able to sell their Arts and Crafts goods through shops such as Morris & Co., Heal's and Liberty's. All this helped the movement reach a much wider audience. Its patrons were mainly fashionable and artistically aware individuals, but they also included institutions such as the Church.''

Gothic revival had a great impact to the Art & Crafts style. The truth to material, strutter and function advocated by A.W.N. Pugin became curtail principles of the Art & Craft movement, also shared John Ruskin's belief in the moral purpose of art. He advocated a return to the spiritual values of the Middle ages, which he felt had been lost in the mechanised and materialistic age which he lived.Manifestation of the Art & Craft way of life was The Red House.  Designed by Philip Webb for his friend William Morris. The Red House characterises the early Art & Craft style, inspired by the British vernacular architecture. It's been radical to use bricks in that time. 

''Red House was designed by Philip Webb in 1859, as a home for William Morris and his young wife Janey. Webb was a friend of Morris and this was his first building. With its steep, red-tiled roof, based on medieval models, and its emphasis on natural materials, the house became a major influence in Britain and abroad. Morris really like the house, for him that was a representation of usefulness and beauty at the same time. Morris did't like all this mass produced stuff, he wanted to furnish the house with beautiful and handmade stuff. Morris did much of the work himself, with help from his artist friends.Prompted by the success of their efforts, they decided to start their own company. In April 1861 Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. was established at 8 Red Lion Square in London.the firm that brought Morris's designs to a wider public. It produced a range of original domestic furnishings including embroidery, tableware and furniture, stained glass and tiles. Wallpapers were soon added to the list because Morris was unable to find any he liked well enough to use in his own home.''

He collected medieval books to get his inspiration.  

William Morris’s Red House in Bexleyheath

Red house interior stare case 

Red House interior 

Red house interior, with Morris's wallpaper and the famous ''Sussex chair''

Morris's first wallpaper design was Trellis, a pattern suggested by the rose-trellis in the garden of his house in Bexlevheath, Kent

William Morris has been a socialist whom belief was n 'art for all', but his wallpapers, like most of the products of Morris & Co., were hand-made and expensive, and consequently had a relatively limited take-up. 

'Fruit' (or 'Pomegranate') wallpaper, by William Morris, 1866. Museum no. E.447-1919. © Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Strawberry Thief, 1883, William Morris 

This is the only completed easel painting that William Morris produced. It is a portrait in medieval dress of Jane Burden, whom Morris married in April 1859.  Inspired by the Pre-Parhaelite Brotherhood

Aesheticism

Aestheticism was an approach to life based on the philosophy of 'art for art's sake'. It emphasised the importance of art above everything else and the pleasure to be found in beautiful things. Aetheticism was a complex mixture of a number of styles. Classical and Japanese art were particular inspirations. It was fashionable from 1870 to 1900.In the 1860s the new and exciting 'Cult of Beauty' united, for a while at least, romantic bohemians such as Dante Gabriel Rossetti (and his younger Pre-Raphaelite followers William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones. Rossetti and his friends were also the first to attempt to realise their imaginative world in the creation of 'artistic' furniture and the decoration of rooms. In this period, artists' houses and their extravagant lifestyles became the object of public fascination and sparked a revolution in the architecture and interior decoration of houses that led to a widespread recognition of the need for beauty in everyday life.

Characteristics

Peacock feathers The peacock feather, previously thought to be a symbol of bad luck, became an icon of the Aesthetic style. Its use as a motif confirmed Aestheticism's reputation for decadence.

SunflowersSunflowers were the most popular Aesthetic motif. With its bold colour and simple flat shape the flower had great appeal for Aesthetes.

Blue and white ceramicsHuman figures shown in Classical Greek and Roman art provided 18th century artists and designers with sources of both subject matter and style. The cameo format, where the figure is shown in profile, was particularly popular.

Strong colour The Aesthetic style favoured strong, simple colours. Bright blues, greens and especially yellows were very popular. Such colours were used in domestic interiors, often in combination with black furniture. Black was also a dominant colour of Aesthetic-style graphic arts

Sir William Blake Richmond, Mrs Luke Ionides by Sir William Blake Richmond, 1879

Dante Gabriel Rossetti - Monna Vanna 

 The Little White Girl, 1864. by James Whistles

Peacock feathers. Furnishing fabricArthur Silver1887

Lewis Foreman Day
About 1880
Ebonised birch wood case, with porcelain face

Edward William Godwin - Pair of vases with sgraffito decoration

William Eden Nesfield - Screen

Oscar Wilde The poet and writer Oscar Wilde was the leading personality of the Aesthetic Movement. He promoted the philosophy of 'art for art's sake' in a series of lectures in America and Britain. Wilde was a famous dandy and wit. He is best known for plays such as Lady Windermere's Fan, The Importance of Being Earnest and The Picture of Dorian Gray, which was later turned into a novel. In 1895, at the height of his success, Wilde was tried and imprisoned for homosexuality. With his downfall the Aesthetic Movement lost its popularity.

Oscar Wilde, the first celebrity style-guru

A good design choice

As an examples of good design I chose this Tree coat stand, designed by  Katrin Olina and  Michael Young for ''Swedese'' a  classic Swedish furniture producer with a strong anchor in both the public and domestic domain.Swedese was founded in 1945 by the two brothers Yngve and Jerker Ekström. This coat stand is made from MDF and  base from a steel plate, that gives a good base so not to  loose balance with clothes on it.   it  imitates the form of a tree which is original yet it stays practical.  The form doesn't only look good but it's functional and it looks modern. It's simple, memorable and eye catching. 

Wall mounted coat stand 

19th century/The good design debate

19th century England was marked by the management of Queen Victoria, a period known as the Victorian era. This was a period of prosperity for the British people. As a consequence of the Industrial revolution industry started in the 18th century, the middle class was able to educate and develop. An era characterized by economic and industrial strength. Rail transport was developed thanks to the invention of the early steam engines. It developed communication and press, thanks to railway link newspapers could now reach readers in the country only hours after printing. The population becomes more literate and educated. During this period, Victorians understood that if you work hard you will live well and they were obsessed with the idea. Everything was associated with industry.

''The Victorians saw British society as a pyramid, with royalty, the aristocracy, the Church, the arts and the professions on top, supported by industry, and with the workhouse at the bottom, was very familiar. Inherent within this vision, and enshrined in society was the idea that the rungs of the social ladder could be climbed only by hard work and integrity, an idea that was constantly explored by painters and writers. By this process the concept of industry achieved its own morality, with the word consciously achieving the dual meaning of hard work and industrialisation.A frequently used metaphor for the industrial process was the beehive, and many Victorian buildings featured bees, symbols both of hard work and the acceptance of the social order, in their decoration. George Cruikshank's well-known 1840 print, The British Bee Hive, underlines this and at the same time throws a spotlight on British society's classified view of itself.''

''Many happy returns'' by William Powell Frith, 1856. This painting depict William's family and his doughter birthday in the centre of the painting. That's also represent the life of the mid class.  We can see and the ''Baloon back'' chairs, one of the many success stories of the Victorian era. 

William Powell Firth was one of the greatest British painters,  He has been described as the "greatest British painter of the social scene since Hogarth". specialising in gender subjects  and panoramic narrative works of life in the Victorian Era. 

 Paddington station is the setting for ''The Railway' by William Powell Firth'. It was the London terminus of the Great western railway build by the great Victorian engineer, Isambard Brunel. It was a new exciting and modern building, built with cast iron and glass and lit by gaslight. 

During the Victorian era, neo-Gothic architecture becomes more significant as an continuation of the Gothic style. Neo-Gothic became the style of the age.
Аn example is the  Palace of Westminster which may refer to the Old Palace, a medieval building complex that was destroyed by fire in 1834, and its replacement New Palace that stands today. The New Palace is rebuild and designed by Charles Barry.He collaborated with Pugin who did the interior design  (furniture, stained glass, sculpture, wallpaper, decorative floor tiles, mosaic work etc.) and also designed  the Palace clock tower, popularly known as Big Ben.The palace has been build for around 30 years. 

Palace of Westminster 

Big Ben, Palace of Westminster

Palace of Westminster, The Lords Chamber

Wallpaper for the Palace of Westminster, designed by August Pugin, 1847

One of the most significant events during the Victorian era  was ''The Great Exhibition '', known also as ''The Great exhibition of works of industry of all nations'' 1851. Exhibition of the greatest discoveries of the century and of manufactured products. The exhibition was held at the Crystal Palace, from May to October in Hyde Park, London. Attended by prominent figures of that time as Charlotte Brontë, Lewis Carroll, George Eliot, Charles Darwin and others.

The Crystal palace was an innovative and modern for its time building made of iron and  plate glass, which were new invention for the time. The method for producing a plate glass was invented in 1848, and such a large amount of glass is used for the first time in construction. It's designed by Joseph Paxton, an  English gardener, what's why the palace itself looks like a green house.The palace is built for 2 week. In 1936 the palace is destroyed by fire. 

Joseph Paxton's first sketch for the Great Exhibition Building, about 1850

''The Great Exhibition was opened on 1 May 1851 by Queen Victoria. It was the first of the World's Fair exhibitions of culture and industry. There were some 100,000 objects, displayed along more than ten miles, by over 15,000 contributors.Britain occupied half the display space inside with exhibits from the home country and the Empire. France was the largest foreign contributor. The exhibits were grouped into four main categories—Raw Materials, Machinery, Manufacturers and Fine Arts. ''

''At first the price of admission was £3 for gentlemen, £2 for ladies, later the masses were let in for only a shilling a head. Six million people—equivalent to a third of the entire population of Britain at the time—visited the Great Exhibition. The event made a surplus of £186,000 (£17,770,000 in 2014), money which was used to found the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Science Museum and the National History Museum  in South Kensington. The Crystal Palace had the first major installation of public toilets the Retiring Rooms, in which sanitary engineer George Jennings installed his ''Monkey Closet'' flushing lavatory (initially just for men, but later catering for women also).During the exhibition, 827,280 visitors each paid one penny to use them (from which originated the euphemism "spending a penny").The Great Exhibition closed on 11 October 1851.''

Queen Victoria opens the Great Exhibition in the Crystal Palace, 1851

The Crystal Palace, London 

The Crystal Palace inside with 27-foot tall Crystal Fountain and full grown tree

The Medieval court at the Crystal Palace designed by Pugin

The Medieval court at the Crystal Palace designed by Pugin 

In England throughout much of the nineteenth centaur, the interest in design and its appropriate role in the industrial production of goods was sparked, in part, by an 1836 report of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Art and Manufactures . They expressed concerns about the quality of the British manufacture goods, that they were lacking of good design and were overly decorative, and they were afraid of loosing the ''export race'' compared to other countries  like France, Germany and the Unitated States. That's why they came out with Three principles of design reform: first, that decoration is secondary to form; second, that form is dictated by function and the materials used; and third, that design should derive from historical English and non-Western ornament as well as plant and animal sources, distilled into simple, linear motifs. According to the Committee ''The Great exhibition'' was a failure with it's abysmal display of domestic furnishings. 

Research/ 18th century style I like

I had to choose a style from the 18th century that I like. In my choice I hesitate between Rococo and Neo-Classicism. I like Rococo because of the cozy and intimate atmosphere that it creates. Rococo gives the feeling of tenderness and femininity, comfort and luxury. When i'm looking at works in Rococo style I get the feeling of positivity, happiness and joy. Perhaps because of the appearance of Rococo as a style depicting the carefree life in the royal court. I always connect the Rococo style with the way of life and the fate of Marie Antoinette at the time, which is a good example of the love of luxury and the waste of money for pampering and beautiful objects for decoration. That contributes to the escalation of tensions that led to the French Revolution. This is the period which represents a more feminine and sensual approach to the design and art in general, you can sense the romantic feeling and the carefree way of life in which the royal court at that time spent their lives. 
In neoclassicism I like the simple forms of design. The elements in architecture, which refer to elements of antiquity. Somehow I connect again neo-classicism with a kind of romance, with nostalgia for a bygone time.What I don't like though, is that sense of seriousness, which is felt by this style, as if after Rococo, has come a time in which one must grow up and stop living in fantasy, to stop and find a solid foundation based on reality. Whereas Rococo primarily reflects the way of life in the royal court, neo-classical is oriented to the national consciousness. Somehow you wish you could have lived in the times of Rococo, yet there's a feeling that lives in you, telling you that this is just a fantasy, and you can't live much longer that way;  just like a beautiful dream that ends.  That gives way to neoclassicism and the seeking for something that is more real, that has his foundations in the past. 

Marie Antoinette 

Versailles: Rococo Interior

Versailess interior: The Queen's bedchamber

Versailles: Interior 

The Catherine palace, Imperial family residence in Russia 

The Catherine palace, Imperial family residence in Russia 

The Catherine palace: Interior 

Rococo furniture 

Rococo furniture

Rococo mirror 

Rococo style dress 

 La Madeleine, Paris. The Madeleine Church was designed in its present form as a temple to the glory of Nepoleon's army.

The 18th century/part 2 - From Gothic horror to Rococo Frills

''The toileter of Venus'' Francois Boucher 1751 

ROCOCO  ас style appears in the early 18th century in Paris, France. Takes it's name from the French '' rocaille '' which means The rock of a broken shell - motifs that often form the design.Rococo replaced the heavy style of Baroque, who performed the task to convey the grandeur and power of absolute power. The Era in which Rococo appears characterized the  carefree life at the French court and also the pursuit of happiness and love. In painting are typical mythological and erotic scenes, images of entertainments, balls and shows. ROcoco was looking for unity and harmony of the different elements in the interior: the corners of the rooms are rounded. furniture, mirrors and candlesticks are gilded and exquisitely combined with brilliant metallic decorations .Preferred colors were  delicate pastel shades of pink, light blue, beige, pale green, and the combination of white and gold  - The furniture was elegant and frivolous, with gilt floral elements and lots of details and natural and flower motifs. Typical were the luxury porcelain tea sets which were mostly for decoration than for practical use, all was about how it looks. One of the main components in the interior of a rococo was the gilt-framed mirror placed over the marble fireplace and  on the upper part are arranged all sorts of porcelain figurines, clocks, candlesticks, lacquered boxes and other trinkets.. In this period  the Eastern and Chinese influence are increased . In furnishing palaces there was almost always and Chinese room, furnished with china and Chinese furniture  that were right fit in the style of Rococo. From China were borrowed the Wallpaper which contributed for the color and figural palette. By mid-18th century rococo  gradually gave way to neoclassicism. 

Marquise de Pompadour at the Toilet-Table by Francois Boucher, 1758

Madame De Pompadour by François Boucher (1756)

Bedroom in Rococo style

Rococo furniture 

Rococo style gild wood mirror 

Rococo mirror in Ludwigsburg Palace, Germany 

Rococo tea set

Rococo wallpaper

One example of the Chinese influence in Rococo style and furnishing is the Chinese room in  Claydon House, Buckinghamshire. Here the rococo continues, but this time in a form known as Chinoiserie — essentially a Chinese version of the rococo decorative style. It represents fanciful European interpretations of Chinese styles.Sometimes copied Chinise objects but more frequently originate in designer's imagination. Inspired mostly by the importation of porcelain and silk from China and Japane. (The popularity of chinoiserie peaked around the middle of the 18th century, when it was easily assimilated into rococo by the works of  Francois Boucher) The entire room is a fantasy of carved pagodas, Chinese fretwork, bells and temples while oriental scrolls and swirls swoop around the walls and doors reaching a crescendo in the temple-like canopy, which would have once contained a bed, but now gives a throne-like importance to a divan.

Chinoiserie plasterwork and carved wood decoration in the Chinese Room at Claydon House, Buckinghamshire

The Chinese Room at Claydon House, Buckinghamshire.

Modern Chinoiserie wallpaper by ''De Gournay'' 

Chinoiserie porcelain 

MARIE ANTOINETTE (2006)

is a movie about queen of France, Marie Antoinette, in the 18th century.  In the movie, a great amount of pastel, sorbet colors were used to enhance, even exaggerate the art style of the Rococo period. 

GOTHIC: 

Gothic is a medieval style that originated in 12th century Paris. Gothic style is typical of Germany, France and England, where he continued until about 1550. Gothic architecture emphasizes vertical shapes and skeletal stone structures, pointed arches and rosette windows. Cathedrals are often decorated with statues outside often depicting saints and biblical paintings inside with scenes from the Old and New Testament. It is believed that Gothic cathedrals are microscopic representation of the world. Pointed arches represent aspiration to Heaven, and the height and majestic dimensions are designed to leave a sense of the greatness of God and the misery of mortal creatures.
In the mid 18th century in the United Kingdom began a trend towards a return to the Gothic style called Neogothic . Pioneer of this revival of Gothic architecture is a writer and public Horace Walpole. He is the author of the novel "The Castle of Otranto", which pave the way to a  whole new literary genre - that of the Gothic novel. . There are lots of classic Gothic novels as ''The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'' by Victor Hugo, ''Frankenstein'' by Mary Shelley, ''Dracula'' by Bram Stoker and of course ''Vampire'' the first published modern vampire story by John William Polidori. In 18th century Gothic is primarily about atmosphere of creepy-hammer horror above anything else. 

Notre-Dame, Paris, France 

Cathedrale de Strasbourg

Gothic rosette window 

Gothic gargoyles

Gothic interior - Strawberry Hill,Twickenham

Gothic interior 

''The hunchback of Notre-Dame'' Illustration 

Frankenstain

''Dracula''

^{NEO-CLASSICISM}  is the most influental style of the second half of the 18th century. Associated with the Age of Enlightenment, and in particular with  the study at the time of the ancient classics and archaeological discoveries.

''During this time, writings by the Renaissance architects Giacomo da Vignola  and Andrea Palladio were widely translated and read. These writings inspired appreciation for the Classical orders of architecture  and the beautifully proportioned architecture of Classical Greece and Rome.''

The Principles of neo-classicism are borrowed from the architecture of ancient Greece and ancient Rome and are used as the new interpretation of the old. .Neo-classical architecture is a reaction against the  redundancy in baroque and rococo styles. it is an architectural nostalgia for the lost world of antiquity and a attempt to return to purity in architecture. It is a search for a '' true style '' and  desire to establish architectural standards as a national trend with precise and universal values. The Classic trends are linked to the national consciousness, as opposed to the Baroque, which is associated with state power , authority and power of the church. Dimensions, proportions and symmetry are key elements in the architecture of neo-classicism.

In Paintings we can associate the neo-classicism with the use of antion element in the composition. often the models are dressed in ancient clothes like toga or there are depict objects from ancient Rome or Greece, like busts, statues, columns, candlesticks, urns, ets. 

Portrait of Madame Récamier by Jacques-Louis David (1800, Louvre)

Madame Raymond de Verninac by  Jacques-Louis David

French Pantheon

Inside panoramic view of the French Panthéon.

British museum 

Brandenburgs gate, Berlin, Germany 

The entrance hall of Osterley Park, London Borough of Hounslow

French Neo-classical interior  living-room 

The style of Neoclassical fashion revives styles from Greco-Roman art which showed women wearing loose fitting rectangular tunics, which were belted under the bust, providing support for women and a cool, comfortable outfit suitable for the warm climate. Nowadays this tipe of dresses are known as Empire silhouette, Empire line or just Empire. 

Empire silhouette

Modern Empire line wedding dress