Drawing Admiration

The Scarlet PastoraleA colleague of mine is currently working on a project inspired by the drawings of Aubrey Beardsley. Admiring one of the images she is referencing, I instantly decided the time was ripe for a story on Beardsley.

Aubrey Beardsley was born in 1872. A sickly child, he was troubled by tuberculosis from the age of nine, and – alas for the world – was finally carried off by the disease at the too-early age of 26 in 1898.

His distinctive black and white ink drawings are immediately recognisable for the exquisite lines; the delicate traceries of flora and fauna; the uncompromising dense black that heightens the drama of each subject. Influenced by the flat style of Japanese woodcuts, Beardsley’s work encapsulates the decadent eroticism of the hedonists, as well as their grotesqueries. They are compelling – we are fascinated and can’t look away, like passersby observing a crash.

Famous for co-founding The Yellow Book, and his drawings for Oscar Wilde’s Salomé, and forever associated with Art Nouveau, Beardsley’s oeuvre continues to this day to inspire and draw admiration.

Also check out Illustration Life’s story, and Wormfood’s online gallery of more than 100 images.

Venus Between Terminal GodsSalomé