Usage of the noun "aesthetic" to refer to a set of artistic principles and motifs
Is it non-standard to use the term "aesthetic" to refer to a set of artistic principles and motifs that define a particular artist or artistic movement? From Wiktionary's entry for aesthetic:
3. (Internet slang) The artistic motifs defining a collection of things, especially works of art; more broadly, their vibe
Her most recent works have this quirky, half-serious 90's teen culture-inspired aesthetic.
This news article appears to agree with Wiktionary's claim that this usage originated as Internet slang. I grew up on the Internet, so I'm not sure whether to believe this or not. I would have sworn that this was a standard, non-slang usage of the term.
Wiktionary's definition (3) of aesthetic has a lot in common with definition (2) of aesthetic as a noun that appears in Merriam-Webster's Eleventh Collegiate Dictionary (2003):
aesthetic also esthetic n (1822) 1 pl but sing or pl in constr : a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste and with the creation and appreciation of beauty 2 : a particular theory or conception of beauty or art : a particular taste for or approach to what is pleasing to the senses and esp. the sight {modernist aesthetics} {staging new ballets which reflected the aesthetic of the new nation— Mary Clarke & Clement Crisp} 3 pl : a pleasing appearance or effect : BEAUTY {appreciated the aesthetics of the gemstones}
Certainly Wikipedia's example "this quirky, half-serious 90's teen culture-inspired aesthetic" would fit very comfortably as a third example of MW's definition (2), alongside "modernist aesthetics" and "ballets which reflected the aesthetic of the new nation."
The entry for aesthetic as a noun in the Eleventh Collegiate is identical to the entry in the Tenth Collegiate (1993)—which makes the hypothesis that Internet slang is responsible for the meaning rather dubious. Moreover, the example that both the Tenth and Eleventh Collegiates credit to Mary Clarke and Clement Crisp comes from The Ballet Goer's Guide (1981):
There was a parallel achievement of staging new ballets which reflected the aesthetic of the new nation and preserving the traditional repertory. The first wholly successful ballet of the Soviet era was The Red Poppy, produced in Moscow in 1927: its revolutionary theme—the liberation of Chinese workers from oppression — was expressed in a firmly academic form.
Early instances of 'quirky aethetic'
A Google Books search for the phrase "quirky aesthetic" turns up several relevant matches from the pre-Internet era, going back to 1982. From Arts Magazine, volume 57 (1982) [combined snippets]:
Extended sensibilities comprehend links to one's roots, to childhood and things past, the rejection of all forms of oppression, an inebriated compulsiveness and an equally inebriated search for beauty, the abrogation of masculine and feminine stereotype models, a certain sense of style that may incorporate a quirky aesthetic, a surrogate self, but ultimately and always a strong sense of personal affirmation.
From High Fidelity/Musical America (1986):
During graduate school, where she [Laurie Anderson] acquired an M.F.A. in sculpture, she discovered, in a printmaking class, a mechanical aptitude that complemented her quirky aesthetic. A notorious insomniac, Anderson remembers taking catnaps in art history class, her dreams segueing with flashing slides.
And from "Tannen Retrospective" (1990) [text not visible in snippet window]:
Robert Tannen's extended palette of architecture, urban design and urban planning, coupled with his quirky aesthetic and inexhaustible investigations into the marriage of public interest and private vision, places him at the forefront of this new brand of artist ...
Early instances of 'avante-garde esthetic'
An early instance of avant-garde esthetic in the relevant sense appears in an unidentified article in The Journal of Psychology, volumes 63–64 (1966) [snippet view]:
The significant interaction between art medium and art esthetic (at the .01 level) indicates that although painting was given first preference within the popular and classical esthetics, this was not the case within the avant-garde esthetic. Within the avant-garde esthetic, literature was given first preference.
I confirmed at the publication's website that volumes 62 and 63 of The Journal of Psychology were indeed published in 1966. Earlier sttill is tyhis instance from Ronald Wiedenhoeft, Hans and Wassili Luckhardt: A Metamorphosis in Modern German Architecture (1964) [combined snippets]:
It was only later that imitative architects were to see in the International Style an easily-learned, avant-garde esthetic that could be justified on purely rational grounds. One must not forget that the pioneers aimed far higher.
By 1972 the catalog of available esthetics included multiple entries. From Nicholas Polites, Design and the New Esthetics (1972) [combined snippets]:
There is a still-dominant but defensive establishment esthetic (e.g., Lincoln Center as both performing arts showcase and "culture" building complex). There is an elitist avant-garde esthetic; a counter culture hippie esthetic; a political and racial consciousness esthetic; (Black is Beautiful, Afros, etc.). In design there are various esthetics: Bauhaus (ordered, rational, functional); organic; romantic, technological slick camp monumental (Hitler/Speer architecture, or the overblown Kennedy Center). There is the cozy Better Homes and Gardens variety suburban esthetic (kitsch, but economically important).
The proliferation of esthetics here is dizzying. It seems clear, then, that people have been using aesthetic/esthetic in the sense that Wiktionary attributes to "Internet slang" since at least the middle 1960s. The Internet may have promoted that usage (as it has promoted pretty much everything else), but it can hardly be credited with creating it.