Lunchtime Lecture: The House Beautiful: Scottish designers of the Aesthetic movement

The V&A’s collection boasts a wealth of objects associated with Aestheticism, a movement embracing beauty and ‘art for art’s sake’, which flourished in Britain, North America and Australia from about 1870 to 1900. Join Max Donnelly to explore the outstanding and often interconnected contributions made to the international Aesthetic movement by four talented, ambitious, and successful Scots: Daniel Cottier, Christopher Dresser, John Moyr Smith and Bruce J. Talbert.

Max Donnelly is Curator of Furniture and Woodwork 1800–1915 at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. V&A publications include contributions to The Story of Scottish Design (2018), and the book Christopher Dresser: Design Pioneer (2021). His co-edited monograph, Daniel Cottier: Designer, Decorator, Dealer (Paul Mellon Centre, 2021) received the Book of the Year award from the Metropolitan Chapter of the Victorian Society in America.

To see our full Spring 2023 Lunchtime Lecture Programme, click 'Download Programme' on the right of this screen.