The Artist
Aubrey Vincent Beardsley (1872-1898), prolific English Fin-de-siècle artist & author. Despite his tragically young death at the age of 25 from tuberculosis, Beardsley created an enormous body of work which has come to symbolize the decadence of the 1890’s. Heavily influenced by the Japanese Ukiyo-e genre of woodblock prints from the 17th & 18th century. His art can best be described as one of dichotomy, both delicate & bold in terms of execution & subject. He combined the decadence, grotesque & erotic of his age, wove & bound them together with intricate pattern, bold graphical lines & pushed against the limits of Victorian society.
Despite his short career & quiet ambition of becoming a writer, Beardsley made a substantial & lasting contribution to the development of the Art Nouveau, Poster & Aesthetic movements. Over a century after his death it's hard to imagine the legacy of this young artist being any greater than the already indelible mark he left behind with the stroke of his pen. Some might not be directly familiar with his work but his influence and reach today is such that you won't need to venture far to discover the impact of his work across modern culture from Fashion, Film, Television, Art & Music.
The Author
Symons grew up in the West of England and embarked on a literary career from a young age. He was one of the key exponents of Symbolism in Britain & during the fin de siècle he built an impressive intellectual and social network that comprised the most prominent figures of the age; including Aubrey Beardsley, Mathilde Blind, Edmund Gosse, Havelock Ellis, Michael Field, Herbert Horne and Walter Pater. Through his translations and critical appreciations, he helped introduce an entire generation of European writers and artists to the English-speaking world.
New Digital Edition - Revised & Expanded
In this superbly illustrated book, Aubrey Beardsley's elegant black & white ink drawings bring the risqué elegance of the Art Nouveau to the Kindle screen. His high-contrast illustrations are a perfect match for e-ink screens without any compromise. In this revised & expanded edition, author Arthur Symons explores the life & work of the artist, offering insight into Beardsley from the perspective of a close friend & colleague. Some of the original print edition's illustration plates were cropped & reduced, this has been corrected to better reflect the original designs & intent of the artist. The number of illustrations included also has been expanded upon with over 40 new pieces of the artist's work, giving the reader a broader overview of his output across different media & bringing the total number of illustrations included in this new edition to over a hundred individual pieces.
