The artistic career of Aubrey Beardsley was remarkable for its brevity. In the seven years he was able to draw and write before succumbing to tuberculosis, Beardsley gained a reputation as one of the most controversial artists of his time. The straightforward elegance of his designs, coupled with the artist's bizarre sense of humor and fascination with the grotesque and taboo, both fascinated and offended his Victorian audience. His illustrations embraced features of aesthetics, decadence, symbolism, and especially Art Nouveau. Beardsley's block prints allowed his work to be easily reproduced and widely distributed. The diabolical beauty of his work and his overwhelming presence in English publishing houses quickly made Beardsley the most influential illustrator of his time.
More than mere illustrations, Beardsley's images capture the mood of the accompanying text while critiquing repressive Victorian concepts of sexuality, beauty, gender roles, and consumerism. Beardsley's poster art and essay changed the public's opinion of art and advertising. The two, the artist argued, were not mutually exclusive. His theatrical posters manifested his theory and helped revolutionize poster production in Europe and America. Beardsley borrowed aspects from various artistic movements and adapted them for his own purposes. He appropriated the Decadent themes of decay, death, and eroticism to shock viewers out of their complacency. The delicately intertwined shapes and curved arabesque lines made his work to mark the visual shift from the aesthetic movement to modern Art Nouveau. In addition to his illustrations, Beardsley composed poetry and prose. His later writings were as decadent as his paintings. Beardsley is best known for Under the Hill, an unfinished erotic novel about Venus and Tannhauser, for which he created both the text and accompanying illustrations.
The decadent movement and the aesthetic movement from which it emerged paved the way for modern art. Beardsley's work possesses the decorative qualities of the aesthetic as well as the pessimistic hedonism and macabre humor of the decadent. Beardsley influenced virtually every modern designer after 1900. His designs were particularly important to the development of Art Nouveau. Some other significant artists who took note of Beardsley include Wassily Kandinsky, Pablo Picasso, and Glasgow School artists such as Charles Rennie Mackintosh. The theatrical beauty of Beardsley's designs was used in the Hollywood production of Salomé and Leon Bakst's sets for the Ballets Russes. Beardsley's work was regularly honored in Art Nouveau revivals, most notably in the 1960s in Heinz Edelmann's cartoons for the Beatles film Yellow Submarine. He was also included in the collage of the Beatles Sgt Pepper album, suggesting his importance as a major influence on the musical group. Beardsley's work continues to shock audiences today. Most recently, Beardsley's Cinesias asks Myrrhina to coitus Lysistrata was exhibited at London's Barbican in 2007, with access restricted to viewers 18 and over.
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.jpg "Illustration for The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe, 1895 by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "Sir Launcelot and the Witch Hellawes, 1870 by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "Illustration from The Black Cat, a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, 1895 by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "The Dancer")
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.jpg "How Queen Guenever Rode on Maying, Illustration from")
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.jpg "Lysistrata and His Allies Defending the Access of the Acropolis to Men by Farts by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "The Return of Tannhauser to the Venusberg, from")
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.jpg "The Lady of the Lake Telleth Arthur of the Sword Excalibur, Illustration from")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-220816).jpg "Isolde Drinking the Poison by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "La Dame aux Camelias, Illustration from")
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.jpg "The Woman in the Moon by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "Frederic Chopin by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "Portrait of Himself by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "Design for tailpiece by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "Black Coffee by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "The Toilet, from The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "The Death of Pierrot by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "A Faun by Aubrey Beardsley")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-272872).jpg "Les Revenants de Musique by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "The Toilette of Salome by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "How King Mark and Sir Dinadan Heard Sir Palomides, Illustration from")
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.jpg "The Kiss of Judas by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "The Repentance by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "A catalogue cover from a Second Book of Fifty Drawings by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "The Wagnerites by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "Comedy Ballet of Marionettes by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "Hail and Farewell by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "Chapter heading depicting two peacocks in a garden with a fountain, c.1893/4 by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "Madame Rejane by Aubrey Beardsley")
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_late_19th_century_(litho)_(bw_photo)_-_(MeisterDrucke-36672).jpg "Caricature of Felix Mendelssohn by Aubrey Beardsley")
_late_19th_century_(litho)_(bw_photo)_-_(MeisterDrucke-36672).jpg)
.jpg "The Toilet of Lampito, 1896 by Aubrey Beardsley")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-155377).jpg "Poster for")
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.jpg "A Repetition of Tristan und Isolde, illustration from")
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.jpg "Erotica of Beardsley, c.1894 by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "The Climax, illustration from")
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.jpg "Headpiece, an illustration from")
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_teaches_Arthur_the_existence_-_(MeisterDrucke-1062573).jpg "Arthurian Legend: The Lady of the Lake (Vivian fee) teaches Arthur the existence of the Excalibur epee Engraving in Le Morte d")
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.jpg "Merlin, an illustration from")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-106494).jpg "A Large Christmas Card, 1895 by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "The Examination of the Herald, for The Lysistrata of Aristophanes by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "The Peacock Skirt, Illustration for the English Edition of")
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.jpg "Decorative Study: Satyr by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "The Climax, c1893 by Aubrey Beardsley")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-154982).jpg "Design for a Frontispiece to")
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.jpg "Of a Neophyte and how the Black Art was revealed unto him by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "A Page by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "Salome by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "Fourth Tableau of Das Rheingold, illustration from")
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.jpg "Siegfried, Act II by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "Excalibur Being Reclaimed by the Lady of the Lake by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "The Rape of the Lock. Illustration for The Cave of Spleen by Alexander Pope by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "How Sir Bedivere Cast the Sword Excalibur into the Water, an illustration from")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-167966).jpg "Jules Ferry by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "Siegfried, from Act II of")
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.jpg "Lucian")
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.jpg "Arthurian Legend: The fairy Morgane gives a shield to Tristan. Engraving in The story of Tristan and his adventures, which includes his love story with Isolde. The Morte of Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory, edition illustrated by Aubrey Beardsley by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "The Landslip, Frontispiece of")
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.jpg "Poster for")
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_after_the_ope_-_(MeisterDrucke-1065072).jpg "Isolde drinking the love potion by Aubrey Beardsley after the opera by Richard Wagner Tristan and Isolde - Arthurian Celtic legend - Art Nouveau - chromolithography W. Griggs by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "Cover of")
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.jpg "Salome with her mother, Herodias by Aubrey Beardsley")
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_illustration_for_Lysistrata_(411_BC)_by_Aristophane_-_(MeisterDrucke-1317851).jpg "Illustration for")
_illustration_for_Lysistrata_(411_BC)_by_Aristophane_-_(MeisterDrucke-1317851).jpg)
.jpg "King Arthur Receiving the Visit of a Young Girl Sent by the Fay Morgane. Illustration by Aubrey Beardsley from Thomas Malory")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-73385).jpg "The Toilet of Salome, illustration for the English edition of Oscar Wilde")
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.jpg "How Queen Guenever made her a nun, illustration from")
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.jpg "The Achieving of the Sangreal, from")
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.jpg "Two Athenian women in distress (Illustration for The Lysistrata of Aristophanes) by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "The Peacock Skirt. Illustration of Salome by Oscar Wilde by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "Arthurian Legend:")
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.jpg "Saint Rose of Lima, c.1894 by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "Initial Letter")
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.jpg "Illustration for")
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.jpg "How King Marke Found Sir Tristram, illustration from")
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.jpg "Lady with Cello, from")
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_Illustrat_-_(MeisterDrucke-950520).jpg "Sir Launcelot and the Witch Hellawes (Illustration by Aubrey Beardsley from Thomas Malory")
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.jpg "Portrait of Edgar Allan Poe, 1894 by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "Arthurian Legend: Tristan Drinking the Love Philtre (Engraving in The Story of Tristan and His Adventures, Including His Love Story with Isolde, from Sir Thomas Malory, Edition Illustrated by Aubrey Beardsley, 1893-1894) by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "The Woman in the Moon, 1893 by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "The Lady with the Monkey by Aubrey Beardsley")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-162217).jpg "Cover and Spine Designs for")
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.jpg "Lysistrata by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "Cover Design, The Yellow Book by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "Cover design for The Yellow Book, Volume I by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "The Black Cape, Illustration for the English Edition of Oscar Wilde")
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.jpg "The Eyes of Herod, 1898 by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "Poster advertising")
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.jpg "Illustration to")
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.jpg "Yseult drinking the Philtre, England, c.1900 by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "The Peacock Girl by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "Isolde, 1895 by Aubrey Beardsley")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-103001).jpg "Fourth tableau of Das Rheingold, (cover design for Savoy No. 6) by Aubrey Beardsley")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-231534).jpg "The Slippers of Cinderella, 1894 by Aubrey Beardsley")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1054486).jpg "The Toilette of Salome, c.1894 by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "Poster advertising The Spinsters Scrip, as compiled by Cecil Raynor, published by Macmillan & Co. by Aubrey Beardsley")
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.jpg "Enter Herodias (Illustration for Salome by Oscar Wilde) by Aubrey Beardsley")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-248688).jpg "Woman in a Bookshop, design for a")
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.jpg "Title page ornament for")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-275230).jpg "King John smiles as he signs Magna Carta, c. 1887 by Aubrey Beardsley")
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