Oscar Wilde's Enduring Legacy 120 Years After Death

Oscar Wilde, born in 1854 in Dublin and died in Paris on November 30, 1900, remains an iconic figure of Decadentism and intellectual dandyism. His tomb at Père-Lachaise is a pilgrimage site. Wilde's only novel, 'The Picture of Dorian Gray,' is considered a profound reflection on the balance between art and life. He was a writer, playwright, essayist, and polemicist who attacked Positivism and the aristocracy of money. His fame allowed him access to Victorian salons until a trial for homosexuality led to two years in prison and exile in France. Wilde's work, including 'Salomé' (written in 1891 for Sarah Bernhardt), combines art and criticism, poetry and prose, philosophy and sociology. He was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites (Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Frank Bernard Dicksee) and collaborated with Art Nouveau illustrator Aubrey Beardsley. Wilde's Decadentism later influenced the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and writers like Francis Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Truman Capote, and Bret Easton Ellis. He valued education and kindness, writing fairy tales that contribute to moral and intellectual growth. The article by Niccolò Lucarelli on Artribune commemorates the 120th anniversary of his death.