Etymology: The word kaloprosopia refers to the practice of living your life as a work of art. Rooted in the Greek words for “beautiful” (kallos) and “face” (prósopon), the term was devised by the fin de siècle French writer and occultist Joséphin Péladan who was dismayed at the rapid ascendancy of capitalism and mass production in late 19th-century Paris.1 Péladan, an eccentric man with a taste for long robes and strong ideas, saw kaloprosopia as a counter to this new This story is from Kinfolk Issue Forty-Eight Buy Now Related Stories Arts & Culture Issue 51 WORD: CRINGE A foray into the awkward. Arts & Culture Issue 50 Word: Dupe On the next best thing. Arts & Culture Issue 49 Word: Zeitgeber A new treatise on time. Arts & Culture Issue 47 Word: Döstädning A Swedish solution to the mess of death. Arts & Culture Issue 46 Word: Wintering When to withdraw from the world. Arts & Culture Issue 45 Word: Explication An explanation to end all explanations.
