Article: Impressionism versus the aesthetic movement.

The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), Oscar Wilde's redoubtable Lady Bracknell announces, 'We live, I regret to say, in an age of surfaces." (1) Her observation sets the tone for an exploration of the aesthetic movement and its relation to impressionism, two movements ordinarily considered distinct. Dominating the art world of the l870s and 1880s, the aesthetic movement began in England, touting art as a matter of uplifting beauty. Simultaneously, impressionism was born in France but was initially received as harsh and ugly. Aestheticism became a matter of lifestyle, chiefly concerned with decoration; impressionists were more interested how and what to paint. The ...

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