Vernon Lee, Art-Philosophy, and True Aestheticism

Abstract This chapter examines Vernon Lee’s engagement with the idea of art for beauty’s sake. First Lee argued that art cannot possibly be both beautiful and religious, then that beauty and goodness are essentially different and can conflict. However, she began to reconnect beauty and goodness on utilitarian grounds: pleasure is good, moral action aims to increase overall pleasure, and beautiful art gives pleasure and therefore has moral value. In 1896 Lee completely reconceived her position, arguing that experiences of beautiful art increase our sense of harmony, strengthen our altruism, and foster our individual spiritual development. The organic forms of beautiful art connect with our living bodies and, ultimately, with the organic unity of reality. Lee ended up with an original, metaphysical kind of aestheticism: art is for the sake of the greater beauty and organic harmony of the universe.