Aubrey Vincent Beardsley
Born – Brighton, England 1872
Died – Menton, France 1898
In the 1890s the decorative style of Art Nouveau was identified as the new expression for design and experimentation with materials, not only in the fine and applied arts buy in architecture too. Aubrey Beardsley was a prodigious talent whose striking black and white illustrations owe their sophistication and economy of means to the impression made on him by Japanese art and by Whistler. Working as an insurance clerk he was originally encouraged to draw by Pre-Raphaelite artist Burne-Jones in 1891, but he did not achieve fame with his initial style until 1894, exemplified by Isolde. The publications of his controversial illustrations for Oscar wilde’s Salome and the first volume of The Yellow Book confirmed his skills for originality in mustering the grotesque and the ornamental with refined and economic draughtsmanship. The suggestion of depravity that pervades these deceptively elegant works echoes the decadence and fin-de-siécle atmosphere of the time and Beardsley has long been recognised as a leading figure in the Aesthetic movement of this period.
Masterpieces:
- The Eyes of Herod
- Self-Portrait
Text: The A-Z of Art, Nicola Hodge and Libby Anson.
Books About aubrey vincent beardsley
A Book of Bargains. [Tales.] ... With a frontispiece by Aubrey Beardsley.
Vincent O'Sullivan
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Aubrey Vincent Beardsley...
Martin Birnbaum
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Aubrey Beardsley, Drawings
Aubrey Vincent Beardsley
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