From the neoclassical sculptures of the 18th century to the conceptual provocations of contemporary art, the idea of beauty has remained both a central and contested concept in Western art history. Elizabeth Prettejohn’s Beauty and Art: 1750–2000 offers a rigorous and illuminating account of how the pursuit, rejection, transformation, and redefinition of beauty has influenced the trajectory of Western visual art.
This volume, part of the Oxford History of Art series, challenges the simplistic notion that beauty ceased to be relevant in the modern age. Instead, Prettejohn demonstrates how the question of beauty has always been at the heart of the artistic endeavor—whether embraced, interrogated, or deconstructed.
The book opens in the mid-18th century, an era deeply shaped by Enlightenment thinking. At this time, beauty was increasingly seen not just as a visual pleasure but as a philosophical concept subject to rational analysis and aesthetic theory.
Prettejohn explores:
Edmund Burke’s theory of the sublime and the beautiful
Immanuel Kant’s “Critique of Judgment” and the idea of disinterested pleasure
How these philosophical foundations influenced the work of artists like Jacques-Louis David, whose neoclassical compositions embodied Enlightenment values of harmony, balance, and moral clarity
Rather than treating beauty as a fixed ideal, the period reveals a complex tension between rational aesthetics and emotional resonance—a theme that will persist throughout the following centuries.
As Romanticism took hold in the early 19th century, beauty began to shift from neoclassical restraint to emotional intensity. The Romantic artist no longer sought to reflect idealized beauty alone but to convey inner turmoil, spiritual depth, and awe-inspiring landscapes.
Key highlights include:
The dramatic seascapes of J.M.W. Turner, which invoke the sublime’s power to overwhelm
The poetic, often melancholic imagery of Caspar David Friedrich
A shift from external beauty to inner experience and subjective vision
Prettejohn illustrates how Romanticism pushed beauty beyond mere formal harmony into something more psychological and transcendental, aligning art with feeling and imagination.
The second half of the 19th century saw artists and critics reacting against the utilitarianism of industrial society. Movements like Aestheticism and Symbolism emerged, embracing beauty as an autonomous, non-instrumental value.
This section explores:
The rise of the Pre-Raphaelites, such as Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Edward Burne-Jones
James McNeill Whistler’s famous dictum, “Art should be independent of all claptrap”
The role of Oscar Wilde and other literary figures in articulating a philosophy where beauty existed for its own sake
Through these examples, Prettejohn shows how beauty was reclaimed as a rebellious, even radical concept during a time of industrialization, moral regulation, and social change.
Modernism marked a dramatic rethinking of art’s role and appearance. Beauty, long associated with tradition and order, now appeared suspect—too bourgeois, too conventional, too tied to a past that avant-garde artists were intent on rejecting.
Key themes in this period include:
The fragmentation of form and space in Cubism, led by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque
The expressive dissonance in German Expressionism, such as Ernst Ludwig Kirchner or Emil Nolde
Marcel Duchamp’s readymades and the radical disavowal of aesthetic pleasure
The Bauhaus movement’s emphasis on functional beauty
Rather than abandon beauty entirely, many modernists redefined it—locating it in innovation, shock, abstraction, and conceptual clarity. Prettejohn insists that modernist movements weren’t anti-beauty but pro-beauty in new forms.
Post-1950 art was marked by pluralism, irony, and skepticism—qualities that further complicated the role of beauty. However, Prettejohn argues persuasively that beauty did not vanish but re-emerged in new and often paradoxical ways.
Topics explored include:
Pop Art’s play with surface, glamour, and consumer imagery (Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein)
The Minimalist aesthetics of Donald Judd and Agnes Martin, emphasizing purity and repetition
The sensual, body-oriented practices of Feminist art, such as in the work of Judy Chicago or Carolee Schneemann
The visual pleasure and immersive installations of Yayoi Kusama and James Turrell
Postmodernism opened up space for marginalized voices and subversive beauty—beauty that could be political, ironic, or deeply personal. Prettejohn sees in this diversity a renewed vitality for aesthetic experience.
Throughout Beauty and Art: 1750–2000, Prettejohn avoids easy definitions. For her, beauty is not a static or universal ideal but a site of contestation—a philosophical, cultural, and emotional argument that artists and critics have engaged with in evolving ways.
She emphasizes that:
Beauty is historical: What was considered beautiful in 1800 may not be today
Beauty is political: Debates around gender, race, and class shape aesthetic values
Beauty is relational: It invites dialogue between artist, artwork, and viewer
Rather than providing one answer to the question “What is beauty?”, the book offers a kaleidoscope of perspectives that enrich our understanding of both art and ourselves.
This volume also acknowledges that beauty is not created by the artist alone—it is also perceived, interpreted, and even constructed by the viewer. Prettejohn brings in ideas from aesthetic philosophy, visual studies, and reception theory to illustrate how audience expectations, cultural context, and institutional framing (such as museums and galleries) affect how beauty is understood.
This approach is especially relevant in the modern and contemporary periods, where artists increasingly involve viewers as active participants.
True to the standards of the Oxford History of Art series, Beauty and Art is visually rich. With more than 100 full-color images, the book features a carefully curated selection of artworks that not only support the text but act as arguments in themselves.
Readers are encouraged to see beauty in context—to appreciate it not only through philosophical or historical explanation but in direct visual engagement with the works themselves.
One of the book’s greatest strengths is Prettejohn’s ability to combine academic depth with accessible prose. Whether you're a student of art history, a practicing artist, or a curious reader, you’ll find her writing engaging, intelligent, and clear.
She brings in thinkers such as Plato, Nietzsche, John Ruskin, and Arthur Danto, but always connects their ideas directly to visual examples. The result is a book that bridges theory and practice, thought and sight.
At the end of this 250-year journey, Prettejohn offers no final verdict on beauty—because beauty, she argues, is not something that can be pinned down. It is always in flux, shaped by history, culture, and creativity.
What she does leave us with is a deeper appreciation for beauty’s role as a question—one that artists keep asking in ever more inventive ways. Beauty and Art: 1750–2000 is a celebration of this ongoing exploration, and a compelling invitation to take part in it.
Whether you agree with all its interpretations or not, the book will change the way you think about beauty—and the art that seeks it, questions it, or reinvents it.
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| Last Updated: | Jul 06, 2025 |
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