【Artistic】 and 【Aesthetic】 are often understood as equivalent terms, especially when used in such collocations as the 【artistic】 or 【aesthetic】 temperament; 【artistic】 or 【aesthetic】 satisfaction; 【artistic】 or 【aesthetic】 standards or values; for 【artistic】 or 【aesthetic】 reasons. (see also 【Aesthetic】 vs Ascetic and Acetic vs 【Aesthetic】 vs Ascetic )
But 【artistic】 may stress the point of view of the artist or of one who actually produces a work of art, who thinks in terms of technique, of the relationship of details to the design of the whole, or of the effects to be gained and who therefore regards beauty as a thing that results from his attention to these matters and that is his creation.
By extension 【artistic】 may imply also the point of view of one who studies or judges art objectively from the artist's angle.
On the other hand, 【aesthetic】 stresses the point of view of one who contemplates a finished work of art or beauty that exists and who thinks in terms of the effect it has upon him and especially of the sensations it stimulates and the feelings it excites.
Strictly, the 【artistic】 temperament shows itself in an urge to fashion or to express and to create out of materials, words, or sounds the beautiful thing that the artist designs or conceives: the 【aesthetic】 temperament shows itself in responsiveness to beauty wherever it is found, and by contrast, in aversion to that which is ugly.
【Artistic】 satisfaction is the gratification that comes to one who can look at a work of art (his own or another's) and call it good: 【aesthetic】 satisfaction is the content that accompanies the enjoyment of beauty for its own sake and independently of all other considerations.
For 【aesthetic】 , largely because of its connection with aesthetics, the branch of philosophy dealing with beauty, usually implies a distinction between that which is beautiful and that which is moral or useful or merely pleasing.
【Artistic】 standards are therefore the tests of perfection in a work of art which artists and critics have accepted: 【aesthetic】 standards are the usually subjective criteria which have been set up by aestheticians or by the individual to enable him to distinguish the beautiful from the merely pleasing or gratifying.
