The public became mesmerised by the extravagant dress and the homes or 'Palaces of Art' of figures like Leighton and Lawrence Alma-Tadema. The exquisite interiors and collections within these houses inspired aristocrats, intellectuals and entrepreneurs across the country to reproduce a similar style in their own homes. A number of setpieces within the exhibition evoke interiors of the day such as the celebrated Grosvenor Gallery exhibition, Whistler’s Peacock Room and Rossetti’s bedroom in artistic Chelsea. Fashionable dress, accessories and jewellery are shown in relation to portraits of key figures in the movement.
The style permeated all areas of life and many leading manufacturers of furniture, ceramics, metalwork, wallpaper and textiles such as Liberty's of London capitalised on public interest by commissioning prominent designers including Walter Crane and Christopher Dresser. Coinciding with the growth in domestic markets in industrial Britain, the resulting designed products were among the first that were widely accessible to an aspiring middle class, transforming the furnishing and decoration of the home.
Oscar Wilde was the original celebrity style guru and he played a crucial role in promoting the idea of beauty in the home. As the Aesthetic movement entered its heyday, it was affectionately satirised in Gilbert and Sullivan’s opera Patience and in the pages of Punch.
The Cult of Beauty: The Aesthetic Movement 1860-1900 has been organised in collaboration with the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. After London, it will travel to the Musée D’Orsay in Paris in September 2011 before travelling to the De Young Museum (part of the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco), opening in February 2012.
Exhibition Publication 
Cult of Beauty by Stephen Calloway & Lynn Federle Orr, eds, has been published to accompany the exhibition. It includes essays by Elizabeth Prettejohn, Penny Sparke and Christopher Breward.
Exhibition Merchandise
There will be a V&A Shop range inspired by the Aesthetic period including silks, ceramics, glass, and jewellery.
Images:
(1) Charger, William De Morgan, about 1888. Museum no. C.261-1915
(2) Ladies and Animals Sideboard Edward Burne-Jones London 1860 Pine, painted in oil paint, with gold and silver leaf Museum no. W.10-1953 Given by Mrs. J.W. Mackail (daughter of the artist)
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