Cult of Beauty Exhibition

Castellani brooch and matching hair ornaments - 1875-1895

A Venus - 1869 - Albert Moore

Reading Aloud - 1884 - Albert Moore

Couch - 1893 - Alma-Tadema Lawrence

Symphony in White No.1 The White Girl - 1862 - Whistler

Gentle Spring - Frederick Sandys

Proud Maisie - 1868 - Frederick Sandys

Vivien - 1863 - Frederick Sandys

Mors Janua Vitae - 1861 - Harry Bates

Esther - 1865 - John Everett Millais

Cult of Beauty - Liberty Window display

One of the recent exhibitions I attended was 'The Cult of Beauty: The Aesthetic Movement 1860-1900'. Being a member of staff at the V&A is wonderful, as I am surrounded by world class exhibitions. I visited the cult of beauty at least three times, it was quite a big exhibition, so it was great being able to take it all in slowly.

It was curated by Stephen Calloway, there was some quirky illustrations of him in the form of wallpaper in Liberty's windows. I have put up pictures above of my favourite pieces. Mostly the oil paintings stood out to me, due to the high quality workmanship.

This exhibition charted the development of the Aesthetic Movement in art and design through the decades from the 1860s to the 1890s. As well as paintings, prints and drawings, the show included examples of all the 'artistic' decorative arts, together with drawings, designs and photographs, as well as portraits, fashionable dress and jewellery of the era. Literary life was represented by some of the most beautiful books of the day, whilst a number of set-pieces revealed the visual world of the Aesthetes, evoking the kind of rooms and ensembles of exquisite objects through which they expressed their sensibilities.