That period in British cultural history that is sometimes called the “Gilded Age”, corresponding to the “Belle Époque”, or the “beautiful era” in France, and similar movements in America and elsewhere that we associate with the grace and style of Art Nouveau, the exquisite paintings of the Pre-Raphaelites, the drama of the romantic painters and the exaltation of beauty in craft, design, literature and art during that era, actually had its roots in ugliness.

The first wave of this shift in art, design and literature began in the 1860’s and was dubbed the “Aesthetic Movement”. It was a response to the sooty, clanking, oil soaked and steam shrouded ugliness of the industrial revolution.

Notable artists in this movement included Frederic Leighton, William Morris, James McNeill Whistler, GF Watts, Edward Byrne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. The latter two were core members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

Their motto was “Art for Art’s sake”, in its original usage meaning art that was in pursuit of beauty itself and not burdened with requirements to convey social or religious morals. This is in contrast to the mid 20th Century Modernists’ later abuse of the term to insist art must be devoid of any literary or storytelling component.

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London is celebrating the movement with an exhibition titled The Cult of Beauty: The Aesthetic Movement 1860-1900, that is on display until 17 July, 2011.

The museum’s website has a display of a few of the pieces from the show. There is an article and slideshow of additional images on The Guardian, and another review with a smaller selection of images on The Independent.

In addition, the Telegraph has an article and a video interview with the curator that includes a bit of a walk-through of the exhibition space.

The V&A Museum also has an article on designing and staging the exhibition, Creating the Cult Of Beauty.

For more, see my related posts below, which contain links to additional images and resources.

(Images above: George Frederic Watts, Albert Moore, Frederick Sandys, James McNeill Whistler, Frederic Leighton, Edward Burne-Jones)

Luis Ruiz is an artist from Málaga, Spain who draws wonderful location sketches, particularly of architectural subjects.

Aside from that, I know little about him, despite the fact that he has a “Meet the Correspondents” page on Urban Sketchers, which is where I encountered his work.

You can view posts marked with his name on Urban Sketchers, or visit his extensive Flickr sets, which seem to be his only formal web presence.

Ruiz has a light touch, sketching in pen and ink with touches of watercolor (and perhaps markers?). He has a knack for suggesting enough of a structure to give it weight and solidity with just a few lines, emphasized by his judicious tone work, capturing nuances of light and shade in the geometry of his compositions.

I don’t ordinarily cover photography here on Lines and Colors, partly because it seems a little off topic, but largely because I feel it’s covered better elsewhere.

However, I couldn’t resist the delightful digitally-composited photographic fantasies of Jean-François Rauzier.

Essentially a form of digital collage, Rauzier’s “Hyperphotos” composite landscapes, animals, and above all, architectural elements, into grand fantasies of imaginary towers, cityscapes and monuments, exploring in the process fantastic perspective, recursion and the visual sensation of infinity.

Rauzier presents his work on his website in an interface that grants you the ability to view the pieces full-screen and zoomable. In this mode their fascinating details, often too small to be visible in the initial image, are revealed as you zoom deep into the high-resolution images.

His monumental and elaborate architectural spaces reveal worlds of ornamentation, inset images within images, alternate spaces and hidden figures.

Rauzier’s online portfolio is divided into series with themes; my favorites are Extraordinary Voyages, “Dédales“, Scénes and the languorous reclining figures of his Sleeping Beauties series (images above, bottom two); though all of the sections are worth investigating.

At times Rauzier’s work puts me in mind of the highly detailed large scale photo-collage compositions of Emily Allchurch, though hers have a different intent. Both are inspired in part by the wonderful “capricious inventions” of the 18th Century etcher and engraver Giovanni Battista Piranesi (also here).

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UK Artist David Curtis paints in both oil and watercolor. He can use either medium to evoke sun filled scenes, rich with the contrast between deep dark and brilliant highlights, as well as the muted values of an overcast day.

In both mediums, he uses a rich palette, with color juxtapositions that make even his muted hues seem alive and energetic.

Curtis tackles a wide variety of plein air landscape subjects, from seaside to forest, city boulevards to small town gardens, as wall as boats, cars, trains and rustic interiors.

Cutis is the author of several books on painting, including A Light Touch: Successful Painting In Oils and A Personal View – David Curtis -The Landscape in Watercolor; and co-authored with Robin Capon, Painting with Impact, Light and Mood in Watercolour and Capturing the Moment in Oils.

He also has a number of instructional videos, some with titles corresponding to his books, A Light Touch: Landscapes in Oils with David Curtis, Light in the Landscape with David Curtis, A Personal View: Landscapes in Watercolour with David Curtis, Light Effects in Watercolour with David Curtis and Capturing the Moment in Oils. You can see trailers for some of them on YouTube.

Curtis’s website has three galleries, for watercolor, oil and a mixed selection of recent work.

There is an article about Curtis on Katherine Tyrrell’s Art of the Landscape that lists books and videos.