Albert Moore (1841-93) was one of the most remarkable artists of the nineteenth century. In a single-minded quest for ideal beauty, he created many of the celebrated icons of the Victorian era, yet the progressive ideas that underpinned his life and art have previously remained cloaked in shadow.

Robyn Asleson's monograph - the first to be published on the artist for over 100 years - seeks to restore the artist to his rightful place in art history, while also shedding fresh light on his mysterious personality and lifestyle. Asleson presents new evidence to debunk the myth of his hermetic existence, re-examines his notorious exclusion from Royal Academy membership, and documents his close relationship with James MacNeill Whistler - demonstrating that Moore's influence on his older and more famous friend was far greater than has hitherto been assumed.

Moore emerges as the most radical exponent of English Aestheticism and a passionate and audacious crusader for abstract beauty who anticipated, to an incredible degree, the aesthetic concerns of twentieth-century Modernism.