Like pieces of a puzzle or the aligning of the stars, everything seems to be preparing for me and my time away next month. This past weekend the Victoria and Albert Museum opened a new exhibition entitled "The Cult of Beauty: The Aesthetic Movement 1860-1900," alternately titled "Visual Champagne: A Showcase of Delight for Melissa Berry."
Aestheticism in its purest forms cannot help but be discussed in terms of the myriad media that were involved, each influencing the other. What better place for such an exhibition? The V&A has the resources to do mixed media like no other venue and will be highlighting paintings, poetry, interior design, jewelry, photography and countless other factors that were associated with the key players of this movement in Britain. Leighton, Whistler, Wilde, Swinburne, Pater... all will be featured. And as for me? I will be a smiling aesthete among aesthetes, a position I will be most happy to assume.
Love the alternative title. I wish I could have seen it with you!
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