Pre-Raphaelites and Antiquity: the Perception through the Prism of Subjective “Avant-garde” Aesthetics
Прерафаэлиты и античность: восприятие сквозь призму субъективной «авангардной» эстетики
Keywords: pre-Raphaelites; Neo-Platonism; avant-garde; the Victorian era; antiquity; myth; eroticism; femme fatale
Avant-guard should be interpreted not as a chronological, but as a typological phenomenon, associated rather with models of artists’ thinking than with a certain visual language. It is possible to speak of the main traits of the avant-garde aesthetic perception. For instance, the antiquity was one of the sources of ideas and artistic devices for the Pre-Raphaelites. Interesting examples of allusive use of ancient mythology can be discovered in the art of E. Burne-Jones (1833–1898), J.W. Waterhouse (1849–1917) who did not formally belong to the Pre-Raphaelites, but shared their mood, style and interest in the subjects borrowed from ancient poetry and mythology. Burne-Jones painted cycles on subjects from the Middle Ages and Antiquity, representing the legend or myth in several episodes. Burne-Jones’s aestheticism transformed impression in subjective experience, displaying a subjective vision of the aesthetic image of the artist (Impressionism has transformed into a reflection of the momentary impression of the beauty of the surrounding nature). Rethinking the images of reality and the ancient artistic heritage, Burne-Jones created a world of dreams. Waterhouse aspires to overcome classical concept of a work of art by expanding the scope of meaning. The newly-designed product is molded in the form of a paradox. The opening of new semantic spaces was intended to break the stereotypes of routine perception of art. The image of a femme fatale occupied the imagination of the artists. The Pre-Raphaelites were looking for inspiration in the same way as poets established themselves as romantic mystics, giving eternal images of antiquity specific interpretation of fin de siècle.
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