The unfortunate association proved too much for the magazine’s publisher who sacked Beardsley. This was confused with the Yellow Book magazine for which Beardsley had supplied his “grotesque” illustrations. When Oscar Wilde was arrested on the charge of sodomy, he was described in the press as carrying a “yellow book”. Unfortunately, this appointment proved to be the unlikely cause of his fall. His notoriety as an artist led to Beardsley being hired as art director for the legendary Yellow Book which provided a home to many great writers and artists. In particular, Beardsley’s image of Salome kissing the freshly decapitated head of John the Baptist with his blood spilling down giving sustenance to a lily caused outrage among polite society. These illustrations became more famous or rather infamous than Wilde’s drama–which had been banned by the Lord Chamberlain on the grounds of blasphemy. He became friends with Wilde and drew the illustrations for his play Salome. Beardsley was more likely to be seen immaculately dressed hosting tea parties at his mother’s house or socialising with the likes of Oscar Wilde and Beerbohm at the Cafe Royale. His friend, the writer Max Beerbohm said no one ever saw Beardsley work at his pictures which he claimed he produced by candlelight in a darkened room. This was the start of his meteoric rise into London’s fashionable art and literary world. Over the course of producing this monumental work, Beardsley changed and developed his style of drawing from the overly elaborate to a clean and austere simplicity. Beardsley alternated between using pen and brush to create his pictures. The work was long and hard and demanded considerable concentration, determined willpower, and strong, confident execution. He was hired to illustrate Thomas Malory’s tale Le Morte d’Arthur for the impressive sum of £200. Dent brought Beardsley his first commission. However, some work he had sent on spec to the publisher J. These were rejected out of hand as his work was deemed “weird” and “dangerous”. These inspired him to finesse his own style into something new and highly original, something he liked to describe as “grotesque.”īeardsley sent his latest drawings off to various magazines. Beardsley claimed he had seven styles of drawing and was determined to develop more.įurther influences came during a trip to Paris when he saw work by Toulouse-Lautrec and an exhibition of Japanese prints. Burne-Jones told Beardsley to enrol at the Westminster School of Art where he quickly developed a style of drawing that was “freakishly” his own. He was far more interested in living the life as an artist than being a successful clerk.īy chance, a portfolio of his drawings was seen by the artist Edward Burne-Jones, who told him he never liked to encourage young men to be artists, but in Beardsley’s case, there was never any other option. It gave him money but did not offer any fulfilment or happiness. Leaving school with a basic education, Beardsley found work at an architect’s office. His drawing was encouraged by his mother. His mother described Beardsley as being as “fragile as a piece of Dresden china.” However, his consumption fired him into frenzied periods of work where he spent hours drawing before collapsing from exhaustion.Īt school, he developed his own “perverse” style of illustration-first in the borders of his exercise books, then in the pages of the school magazine. The disease plagued him throughout his life and was eventually the cause of his death at a mere twenty-five years of age. He was a frail child who became severely ill with tuberculosis. He gave piano recitals with his older sister Mabel and the pair devised their own theatrical productions which they performed for the amusement of their mother and her friends. As his father was unable to hold down a regular job, his mother frequently sought funds from her own father-a former military officer-to feed the family and pay the bills.įrom early on, Beardsley showed a precocious talent for art and music. She did her best to encourage her children towards the pleasures of art and culture. His mother had pretensions towards a more genteel and cerebral existence. His father was a louche spendthrift who squandered money on drink and pleasure. Aubrey Beardsley was born into a lower-middle-class family in Brighton on 21st August 1872.
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