The aesthetics, after establishing itself as a new sub-discipline of philosophy, has gained enormous popularity among both academic and non-academic audiences. This popularization of aesthetics takes various forms: popular philosophy, discussions in journals, essays and reviews, as well as private letters. However, the most successful medium is the novel. Through the figure of the artist, it provides space for the sensualization of aesthetic ideas. Fictional conversations in such artist novels serve to illustrate different viewpoints. The author demonstrates how discussions about art and artists are central to these novels by examining five works that represent various ways of addressing the conflict between society and the artist, reason and sensuality, as well as reality and imagination.