Clementina Anstruther-Thomson

Clementina Anstruther-Thomson
Portrait of Clementina Anstruther-Thomson by John Singer Sargent, mutual friend of both Anstruther-Thomson and Vernon Lee.
Born	1857
Died	1921
Occupation	Author
Known for	Experimental aesthetics

Clementina "Kit" Caroline Anstruther-Thomson (1857 – 1921) was an Scottish author and art theorist. She was known for writing and lecturing on experimental aesthetics during the Victorian period. Her collaboration with Vernon Lee in the 1890s inspired Lee's growing interests in the psychological aspect of aesthetics later in her career.

Anstruther-Thomson was born to John Anstruther-Thomson of Charleton and Carntyne and Caroline Maria Agnes Robina Gray in an aristocratic family. Her grandfather, also John Anstruther-Thomson, was a career officer in the British Territorial Army.

The Victorian period was known as a time where many types of arts flourished. In literature, writers of the aesthetic movement focused on the sensual aspect of aesthetics. Anstruther-Thomson in particular was keen on experiencing art through her body. In one of the lectures titled "What Patterns Do to Us?" given by Anstruther-Thomson, she encouraged the audience to engage with a patterned vase and "feel its effect on their bodies".

Vernon Lee was already familiar with Anstruther-Thomson prior to meeting her. Contemporary writers have described Anstruther-Thomson as having the physique that resembles the ideals from ancient Greek sculpture, and Lee frequently described her obsession with Anstruther-Thomson's body in her writings.

Anstruther-Thomson first met Vernon Lee in 1888, and for the next twelve years the two women openly lived together. Living as expatriates in Italy, they often travelled back and forth to Britain. In their time together, they have taken aesthetics experiments and recorded their findings. Throughout the 1890s, Anstruther-Thomson and Lee visited many museums across continental Europe and observed many art works. In their observation, they recorded in writing on how their body responded to art works.

In 1897, they published the combined findings in the article "Beauty and Ugliness", which investigates the physiology of aesthetics. Their research was based on James–Lange theory of how human body responds to stimulation and triggers emotion. Many of the findings however were not taken seriously, as both their professional and romantic relationship was attacked by their contemporaries.