Decadent artwork in the sixties counterculture magazines International Times and Oz

Abstract

Leading magazines of 1960s counterculture in Britain made use of decadent aesthetics, yet the significance of this fin-de-siècle form of an artistic and ideological alternative for the counterculture of the Sixties has often been passed over in accounts of the aftermaths of Decadence. The paper examines the allusion to and the usage and assimilation of principles of decadent visual design as well as the visible incorporation of Beardsley-like style elements in selected pieces of artwork published in the magazines International Times (IT) and Oz. Discussing possible functions of these references to Decadence in the context of the 1960s, the article demonstrates the continuing countercultural significance of Decadence as a challenge to mainstream culture.