Art Research Paper
Towards the end of the 19th century Oscar Wilde’s popularity exploded all across the world as he established himself as an amazing playwright, poet, novelist, aesthete, and most of all a legendary wit. Wilde grew up in England during a period when the so-called Pre-Raphaelites began a movement later known as the aestheticism movement, which celebrated beauty in all things living and otherwise (art). A group of young English painters began the movement in hopes of reforming art to a point of making it a form and way of life by depicting what was pure and beautiful. In order to do so an artist was to strive to approach ideal beauty, to live a pure form of aestheticism both in their work and in their lives. Wilde made every effort to reach this aesthetic life by attempting to form beauty in his work and his life, further shown by his relationship with younger, more attractive men who he thought were the perfect models of beauty.
Throughout his life Wilde was strongly motivated by the aesthetic aspects; his teachers at Oxford, Walter Pater and John Ruskin, provided him with the necessary equipment to craft his life accordingly. Pater and Ruskin were two of the main representatives of the aesthetic movement at this time; they both intended to restore beauty to everyday life through art and living life according to the ideals of the movement. While he did respect and appreciate Ruskin, Wilde did not entirely agree with his teacher; Ruskin considered ethics as the pillar of aesthetics while Wilde thought beauty and ethics incompatible. Wilde thought beauty and ethics incompatible due to the fact that he found ethic and moral thought in 19th century England as totally unconvincing. Pater was strongly influenced by classical antiquity, Hellenism, and the renaissance and he also favored an ethic worldview, which bordered on hedonism, because in his eyes the highest ethic principle was the pursuit of sensual pleasure – this was contrary to Ruskin whose views were less self centered and included a social component. As a result of Pater’s views he preached pleasure and enjoyed what was beautiful, a true aesthete, but the negative side of him did not want to be bothered with the bare realities of everyday life. While Wilde did not agree with all of Pater’s or Ruskin’s views he took from them characteristics of the aesthete and developed into his own kind of aesthete.
In essence Wilde was guided by his desire for the beauty of form, in which he worshiped like a god. To Wilde, form was the measure of all things in art, form was everything, while content was truly nothing; morals or morality had little to do with either, least of all morals or morality of his time. Wilde had the ability to recognize, demonstrate, and maintain the beauty of all things through form which led to his formal aestheticism which placed art above life and nature – a life which beauty was more relevant than conventionally accepted morals (i.e. his sexual escapades). As a result of this Wilde often made concessions within his text, for the beauty of a word or a sentence at times would cause the plot to suffer or lose much of its charm it had when presented to an audience. To Wilde himself however, his life and living it was more important than his works as he aimed at living it “beautifully”, which meant exquisite and at (most) times expensive. Wilde’s attempt at a beautiful life eventually caught up with him as he lived most of his life after prison attempting to get out of debt for his luxurious homes and his incredible large wardrobe. The thing about Wilde was this; he surrounded himself with people who could actually afford to live that beautiful life and embrace his theories on art and beauty both in terms of financial means and intellectually. Wilde designed himself and became what could be known as a living work of art, a live performance so to speak. It seems ironic that a man that was known for his beautiful art and work would be further known as an unattractive man. Wilde stood nearly six-feet, five-inches tall and was described as corpulent, his skin was pale and especially his teeth gave him permanent reason for unhappiness. Wilde was well aware of this flaw and as such was always covering up his mouth with one finger to hide his hideous teeth. This was a cruel handicap for a man who was known for his witticism and profound communication ability. Wilde was known for his spectacular intellect and when in the company of others was always the center of attention as his name alone gave reason for people to come to social gatherings, as they hopped to catch a bit of the wit in which he so readily dispelled in public circles.
Throughout his life Wilde was strongly motivated by the aesthetic aspects; his teachers at Oxford, Walter Pater and John Ruskin, provided him with the necessary equipment to craft his life accordingly. Pater and Ruskin were two of the main representatives of the aesthetic movement at this time; they both intended to restore beauty to everyday life through art and living life according to the ideals of the movement. While he did respect and appreciate Ruskin, Wilde did not entirely agree with his teacher; Ruskin considered ethics as the pillar of aesthetics while Wilde thought beauty and ethics incompatible. Wilde thought beauty and ethics incompatible due to the fact that he found ethic and moral thought in 19th century England as totally unconvincing. Pater was strongly influenced by classical antiquity, Hellenism, and the renaissance and he also favored an ethic worldview, which bordered on hedonism, because in his eyes the highest ethic principle was the pursuit of sensual pleasure – this was contrary to Ruskin whose views were less self centered and included a social component. As a result of Pater’s views he preached pleasure and enjoyed what was beautiful, a true aesthete, but the negative side of him did not want to be bothered with the bare realities of everyday life. While Wilde did not agree with all of Pater’s or Ruskin’s views he took from them characteristics of the aesthete and developed into his own kind of aesthete.
In essence Wilde was guided by his desire for the beauty of form, in which he worshiped like a god. To Wilde, form was the measure of all things in art, form was everything, while content was truly nothing; morals or morality had little to do with either, least of all morals or morality of his time. Wilde had the ability to recognize, demonstrate, and maintain the beauty of all things through form which led to his formal aestheticism which placed art above life and nature – a life which beauty was more relevant than conventionally accepted morals (i.e. his sexual escapades). As a result of this Wilde often made concessions within his text, for the beauty of a word or a sentence at times would cause the plot to suffer or lose much of its charm it had when presented to an audience. To Wilde himself however, his life and living it was more important than his works as he aimed at living it “beautifully”, which meant exquisite and at (most) times expensive. Wilde’s attempt at a beautiful life eventually caught up with him as he lived most of his life after prison attempting to get out of debt for his luxurious homes and his incredible large wardrobe. The thing about Wilde was this; he surrounded himself with people who could actually afford to live that beautiful life and embrace his theories on art and beauty both in terms of financial means and intellectually. Wilde designed himself and became what could be known as a living work of art, a live performance so to speak. It seems ironic that a man that was known for his beautiful art and work would be further known as an unattractive man. Wilde stood nearly six-feet, five-inches tall and was described as corpulent, his skin was pale and especially his teeth gave him permanent reason for unhappiness. Wilde was well aware of this flaw and as such was always covering up his mouth with one finger to hide his hideous teeth. This was a cruel handicap for a man who was known for his witticism and profound communication ability. Wilde was known for his spectacular intellect and when in the company of others was always the center of attention as his name alone gave reason for people to come to social gatherings, as they hopped to catch a bit of the wit in which he so readily dispelled in public circles.
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Wilde’s predisposition for beauty eventually led to his demise as his love for Lord Alfred Douglas was dragged through the courts and ended in Wilde being sent to prison for two years for indecent behavior. Wilde’s beauty was carried on in his works despite the fact that after prison he was relatively absent from the literary world, only producing three well-known pieces after his imprisonment. Wilde’s aesthete characteristics can be found in his literature, but especially in three of his works – De Prefundis, The Portrait of Dorian Gray, and the Artist as a Critic. Wilde was making an attempt during the end of the Victorian era to carry on the aesthetic ways of his mentors, Ruskin and Pater. During this time in England most writers and artists were all-consumed with the idea of industrial change and the demise of England’s once burgeoning Aristocracy as a result of this industrialism. Wilde on the other hand was staying true to the age, writing about beauty as an art and art as beauty. His writing personified the age and highlighted the life in which he so longed to live.
In De Profundis Wilde sought to clear the air between him and Bosie, breaking off their torrid love affair and forgiving Bosie for his father’s faults. The Lord Marquis de Queensbury – Bosie’s father – found himself in court against Wilde for libelous activity against Wilde, Queensbury insulted and furious about his son’s relationship with Wilde pushed for the harshest penalty possible, which landed Wilde in prison for two years. Found in De Prefundis though is Wilde’s love and appreciation for Chris as both a romantic poet and artist. Wilde saw Christ as a sexually ambiguous individualist and Aesthete much like himself (Belford 44). “Christ’s place is indeed with the poets,” Wilde wrote in De Profundis. Belford explains that the “Crucifixion as an image and as subject matter of art had ‘fascinated and dominated Art as no Greek god ever succeeded in doing’” (Belford 44). Interestingly enough Beldord further explains that the “nearly nude Christ on the cross, often with an erection of the sinless generative organ, said by art historians to symbolize the Redemption, was for some the homoerotic icon of Catholicism” (Belford 44). Catholicism as a result played an intricate role in Wilde’s life as he found the Catholic Church itself to be a paradox: homophobic and homoerotic; medieval and modern; spiritual and sensual. It excited and exploited desire and yet condemned it as well. The paradox that Wilde had found gave him further appreciation for the Catholic Church as he found Christ himself to be the perfect aesthete. In De Profundis Wilde points out that he stood in symbolic relations to the art and culture of (his) age. (He) had realized this for (himself) at the very dawn of (his) manhood” which seems to profess, pretentiously, that he understood that he all at one time had stood for the beauty in art and in one fell-swoop stood for the ugliness in art. This is an almost direct reference to Christ once more as Christ had stood for peace, beauty, spirituality, and art before his crucifixion. Whether or not Wilde is in fact then comparing himself to Christ in that he ascended from his incarceration to the fore once again is another thing entirely but it is evident in Wilde’s words that he believes that he had reached the pinnacle of the aesthetic plane. He further points out his beauty when he states that the “gods had given (him) almost everything. (He) had genius, a distinguished name, high social position, and philosophy as an art” (Norton 1806). In the previous statement it appears that Wilde believes that all that is beauty is in him, that he in fact had reached the highest aesthete level in that he was a symbol of his age. While obviously arrogant and ego-centric it would seem that at the time Wilde may have been right, as he was perceived as a beautiful artist and person at the time prior to his demise or ‘crucifixion’.
While De Profundis served as both a letter to Bosie Douglas and as a statement of Wilde’s true worth to society The Picture of Dorian Gray celebrated the beauty of art and the relationship between it and morality. The Picture of Dorian Gray was considered art-for-art’s sake aesthetics by many critics. At first glance it would seem as though pleasure for pleasure’s sake would go against the ideals of aestheticism but as Pater had once suggested it is truly the one characteristic that is beautiful. The Picture of Dorian Gray celebrated hedonism and as a result of Pater’s thinking would in fact be celebrating aestheticism in its purest form. Gillespie explains that the “narrative of The Picture of Dorian Gray endorses the affinity between ethics and aesthetics” (Gillespie 62), what makes that statement incredibly interesting is the fact that Wilde did not agree with Ruskin and Pater’s statements that ethics played a part in aestheticism. So is Wilde now contradicting himself? No, he is instead pointing out that ethics play a role in decisions that are made but the act following those decisions serves as aestheticism as people seek to reach and attain the things they want – much like hedonism in its purest form. Gillespie further points out that Lord Henry’s character: “no matter how extravagant his lexicon of sensualism becomes, he seems to make no move to gratify his appetites” (Gillespie 63). Lord Henry does nothing to satisfy his physical needs but instead chooses to enjoy voyeurism, which is celebrating the beauty of others and their interaction together. Lord Henry’s activities serve as appreciation of beautiful things and as part of an aristocratic society apparently have a place as he finds beauty in others and celebrates it in his own way.
Wilde’s The Critic as an Artist shows the relationship of an art critic with the world of art and his prescribed beauty within it. Wilde acknowledges the fact that a critic does actually have a role, they simply balance out or give a certain level of accountability to the artist. And while a critic can at times be a bit harsh their role is still incredibly relevant to the success of an art form or piece of art. Ellmann points out that Wilde found that “if art was to have a special train, the critic must keep some seats reserved on it” (Oscar Wilde – Ellmann 91). Wilde expresses literally the fact that “poor reviewers are apparently reduced to be the reporters of the police-court of literature, the chroniclers of the doings of the habitual criminals of art” (Oscar Wilde – Ellmann 91); this statement points out that critics do have a role in determining what is beautiful (art) and while they may serve only that purpose they do have an independent purpose or role in aestheticism. Wilde thought of himself as a voice of the age to be rather than of the age that was fading and as such pointed out that critics have a similar role. Beauty is art and art is beauty and if there is no one to seek accountability of the artists actions then what is truly beauty, everything or is it that which others find beautiful – that is where the critics role lies, in seeking the meaning of art/beauty.
To Oscar Wilde, loving beauty had become at once his nature, a need and belief, something he completely identified with. The ideals of aestheticism consumed him and he served it at every corner. He felt compelled to pass it on to the world and in doing so he lost much of himself; he was in financial dire-straights for years following his death and as a result of his aesthete ways was imprisoned for not choosing to betray his thoughts or individuality. During a time in the Victorian Era when some many authors choose not to accept beauty as an art form, Oscar Wilde embraced it in an attempt to share it with the world was punished for it. What was true beauty to Oscar Wilde? No one truly can tell but judging by his superior intellect, his masterful use of the English language in his works, and his love of beautiful material things one can only surmise that he thought that beauty was in the eye of the beholder. Wilde understood that for the world of art to be beautiful there must be role-players within it: the artist, the art, and the public (critic). If not for the fact that Wilde subscribed to the idea of aestheticism at a young age (college year) would he have crafted his art in the way that he did, that is difficult to tell, but it is safe to say that his society was better for it. He mocked the aristocracy, questioned art’s role in the world, and responded with a true art form – the aesthete way of life.
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