The Influence of the Aesthetic Movement on Modern Art and Life

FAIN: FB-10512-70

Margaret J. Bolsterli
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville (Fayetteville, AR 72701-1201)

Study of place of "Aestheticism" in the definition of "modern" in architecture, literature, painting, decorative arts and the shape of the suburban community. Quality of life for the 20th century more or less defined in the period 1875-1900, when a change occurred in the way man looked at himself and the universe. Marked beginning of acceptance of present as being more valid than past or future. This acceptance and the present is the heart of Aestheticism and marks the difference between "Victorian" and "modern" styles. Center of study is Bedford Park, a community which was an experiment in "aesthetic" life between 1875 and 1900. Important architecturally since it marks the beginnings of functionalism; artistically because of the artist (notably W.B. Yeats) who lived there; and socially because it was the prototype of the modern suburb.