Decadent art

A derogatory term for expressions of artists and writers of the Aesthetic Movement in England in the last two decades of the 19th Century, it was directed against people who were judged to be more concerned about form and beauty than subject and moral uplift. Aubrey Beardsley and his drawings, associated with Art Nouveau, were often criticized for his Decadent Art. Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"