Art radically changed in the 19th century. If we compare two works of beloved portrait artists working in Paris, Jacques Louis David’s The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries from 1812 to John Singer Sargeant’s Mrs. Asher B. Wertheimer from 1898, not even a full life-time separates these two and yet the brushstrokes, surface qualities, and backgrounds are markedly different. What lies in the time between these two works is a complete shift in artistic rules and inspirations.
David’s The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries and Sargeant’s Mrs. Asher B. Wertheimer
The artistic world for centuries had drawn inspiration from antiquity, but by the middle of the 19th century, new styles from Japan and China captured the public interest. Japanese prints and ink drawings did not prioritize perfect linear perspective the way the West had for centuries. Softened lines clearly communicated closed rooms and arrangements of figures without the same precise order and tight brushwork as a group of saints in a Renaissance sacra conversazione. Quite suddenly a new, less visually precise way of depicting the world inspired the Romantic, the Impressionist, and the Aesthetic movements.
Andrea del Verrocchio, The Madonna with Child and a scene from The Tale of Genji
Growing out of a desire for “art for art’s sake” and objects whose sole purpose was to be beautiful, the Aesthetic Movement had fully bloomed by the 1880’s and many designers had embraced the two-dimensionality of art like the styles in Japanese woodblock prints, instead of the illusionistic, three-dimensionality of realism that was popular in decoration. Japanese studies of nature provided a basis for simple two-dimensional designs and informed a sense of order within a dizzying array of patterned textiles. If we look at a black and white photograph of a Victorian interior, it easily appears cluttered, busy, and incoherent with the sheer number of patterns and textures. But the absence of color in these photographs also creates an absence of order. The Aesthetic Movement marked a shift away from the merely representational and began a new study of color and pattern in decorative art that would pervade interiors, especially those of American churches.
The Divide in Art
Catherine Lynn in her article “Decorating Surfaces: Aesthetic Delight, Theoretical Dilemma” puts the state of the arts at the time succinctly:
“For many years the role of surface ornament has been so unimportant that it has not been studied outside trade schools. But surface ornament was thoughtfully studied and created by the architects and artists of the Aesthetic era…At the heart of the discussion is a fundamental disagreement about whether realistic, naturalistic imagery is acceptable as decoration, or whether all ornamental forms must be abstractly rendered.” (In Pursuit of Beauty, 53)
Upon seeing a color image of the richly decorated 19th century interior, it may not be surprising that many decorators were amateur botanists. But their methods in observing nature varied between two camps upon which Lynn elaborates: the naturalists and the abstractionists.
Reflecting the change in painting styles over the 19th century, decorators in the Aesthetic Movement were split between the merits of naturalism or abstraction. Naturalist artists like John Ruskin claimed that realistic images of nature were a celebration of God’s work and made the decorations the highest form of “true art.” Flowers were nature’s ornament; why should exact representations of them not be ours too? In his work, The Seven Lamps of Architecture, Ruskin “especially placed emphasis on ornamental decoration, saying it separated architecture from mere building and decoration ‘merited the attention of an artist and that a good designer must be an artist.’” (In Pursuit of Beauty, 54) Decoration was undeniably integral to architecture but the expression of an appreciation for nature varied.
Abstractionist decorators pored over colors and designs, testing palettes and patterns like scientists to determine which appealed to the eye best and which is “satisfied from the absence of any want” as Owen Jones states in his 4th Proposition in The Grammar of Ornament. Jones, Christopher Dresser, and others like them used methods that drew on scientific precepts and the fundamental notion that there must be proportional, mathematical rules that govern nature and what appears beautiful.
Because of these guiding rules, many famous designers believed that nature could be perfected by drawing out mathematical diagrams to completion since nature rarely did so organically. Jones developed the beginnings of color theory and based his designs on geometric balance, thereby “perfecting” nature for complete visual balance and harmony. In his mind, “True art consist[s] in idealizing, and not copying, the forms of nature.” (The Grammar of Ornament, 154)
In his work, The Grammar of Ornament, Jones lays out 37 propositions, creating an all-encompassing proof for this conclusion of the existence of universally good design. The results within his figure pages are patterns from all different cultures, harmonious color palettes, and two-dimensional renditions of plants, all demonstrating the importance of flat patterns for visual harmony.
Figure Pages from Jones’ The Grammar of Ornament
The Grammar of Ornament to this day remains a fundamental work for any decorative artist and his propositions indeed separate architecture from mere building as Ruskin said previously. Jones begins the work’s conclusion by stating:
“We believe that if a student in the arts, earnest in his search after knowledge, will only lay aside all temptation and indolence, will examine for himself the works of the past, compare them with the works of nature, bend his mind to a thorough appreciation for the principles which reign in each, he cannot fail to himself be a creator, and to individualize new forms, instead of reproducing the forms of the past. We think it impossible that a student fully impressed with the law of the universal fitness of things in nature, with the wonderful variety of form…whatever type he may borrow from Nature, if he will dismiss from his mind the desire to imitate it, but will only seek to follow still the path which it so plainly shows him, we doubt not that new forms if beauty will more readily arise under his hand….”(The Grammar of Ornament, 156)
This definitive statement separated Jones from naturalists like Ruskin and elevated the position of decorator from a mere observer of nature to an innovator and explorer. Jones’ contemporary and follower, Christopher Dresser was a trained botanist and, like Jones, made careful study of botanical elements either by sketching them in situ or by pressing and mapping them to extrapolate their basic forms and lines into orderly patterns. “Dresser himself went beyond simply orderly design and suggested that, when observing the pattern of growth, a good designer can conceive of designs never seen in nature, yet derived from nature herself, thereby creating the highest art: one of “purely mental origin.” (In Pursuit of Beauty, 60)
Both designers ultimately believed that the created world offered a preexisting order that only human ingenuity could bring to fruition since nature would fail to do so. This celebration of man’s ability to reason, married with the beauty of God’s creation, appealed to many designers of the era, especially in the United States, resulting in a flourishing of the Aesthetic Movement in American interiors. Jones appropriately concludes his book declaring: “See how various the forms and how unvarying the principles…They are there to awaken a natural instinct planted in us, – a desire to emulate in the works of our hands the order, the symmetry, the grace, the fitness, which the Creator has sown broadcast over the earth.” (The Grammar of Ornament, 157)
Nature in the Sacred Decorative Arts
Jones and Dresser’s philosophy in many ways transformed interiors. Because of their diverse artistic influences and increasingly precise methodologies, decorative artists positioned themselves as contributors to the fine arts. This opportunistic move is described by the Victoria and Albert Museum:
“It was argued that if furnishings were refined enough in form, materials and their quality of making, and carefully considered in colour, they – and the decorative arts in general – could rise to a new level and blur the Royal Academy’s longstanding strict division between the ‘fine’ arts of painting, sculpture, and architecture and so-called artisan crafts – decorative arts design and fabrication.”
This shift came at the same time as the Arts and Crafts Movement and Gothic Revival Movement, when designers like William Morris, Daniel Cottier, Louis Comfort Tiffany, John La Farge, and the Herter Brothers also embraced inspiration from nature. The result was a wealth of design potential in America. As prosperity increased, so too did the desire to possess fine art and the desire to decorate interiors to rival those in Europe and, by 1888, there were over 4,000 new churches being built, among them the Belmont Chapel, Trinity Church in Boston, the Cathedral of St. Patrick in Norwich CT, and Yale University’s Battell Chapel. (In Pursuit of Beauty, 177)
The religious undertones in Jones’ philosophy and the social conditions in America made designs in the Aesthetic style particularly appealing for church decoration. In fact, the United States is home to some of the most famous examples of Aesthetic Movement architecture, interior design, and craftsmanship in the world. Stained glass offered particularly attractive features: it followed Jones’ proposition and Dresser’s Principles of Decorative Design that a flat color with a black surround will look brighter and it offered a traditional medium that benefitted from two-dimensionality and could be repurposed for new compositions.
Stained Glass Windows from the Belmont Chapel
Motifs from all areas of history, most notably medieval Europe and Augustus Pugin’s designs from only a few decades prior, found popularity especially in Episcopal, Roman Catholic, and Presbyterian churches across America. These churches introduced decorative elements via stained glass and patterns that were not explicitly religious but contributed to the artistic composition and beauty of a church interior, furthering the botanical influence on Aesthetic art and inspiring reverence for nature. The Aesthetic designer Daniel Cottier was specifically:
…“Uniquely qualified to serve as a link between the expanding artistic ideas of England and those of an America just beginning its pursuit of aestheticism…[he] introduced into the churches of late nineteenth-century America a new subject matter not explicitly religious. Local artists were quick to follow suit, adding to the standard window repertoire of scenes from the Old Testament and from the life of Christ a whole assortment of historical and pictorial subjects. These ranged from charming floral vignettes to lush river and mountain scenes in textured landscapes exploding with color.” (In Pursuit of Beauty, 180)
In a time when industry was growing exponentially, as was optimism from the Great Exhibitions, it seemed only right that church art should blend the beauty of God’s creation with the divine gift of human ingenuity. The results are American churches with uniquely Edenic qualities and some of the most abundant examples of Aesthetic art that feel natural and emotive, rather than stiff or cold.
A paint exposure conducted at a church in Kansas
At Canning Liturgical Arts, time and again we discover hidden treasures from the 19th century deemed too ornate when minimalism eventually rose to prominence. But as time goes on and as history separates us from that era, its beauty is appreciated and sought more and more. Such a rich artistic period in American art history is often pitifully glossed over and decorative elements from the period are often lost under a coat of white paint or wallpaper. But few artistic movements have such clear and direct influences from nature as the Aesthetic Movement. As we discover more whitewashed churches with secret gardens, it is Canning’s mission to preserve and celebrate this unique period and realize that any space can be adorned, but few spaces are truly beautified with the intention and reverence of a craftsman.
