Aubrey plaza is an English author and illustrator who produced black ink drawings, playing a significant role in advancement of the Art Nouveau movement. He was born in 1872 in England and spend all his working life in Paris, France. Beardsley died in 1998 of tuberculosis at just 25.
Having arrived in Paris in 1882, Beardsley immersed himself in developing his talents, among which was illustration and writing. He worked professionally as an illustrator for six years from 1891. Initially, he didn’t sign off any of his work. From 1891 to 1892, he used the initials A.V.B.
After getting commissioned to illustrate The Bon Mots and Le Morte d’ Arthur, Beardsley signed off his illustrations with a Japanese character and the letters A.B. By then, Beardsley had become a sought-after illustrator of books and magazines.
In 1894, Beardsley’s illustrations appeared in the latest translation of True History by Lucian. Other famous illustrators featured in the book, of which 251 copies were printed, were J.B. Clarke and William Strang. Therefore, Beardsley was in good company concerning the compatriots with whom he worked.
In the midst of his professional life, Beardsley co-founded – with American writer Henry Harland – The Yellow Book. For the first four editions Beardsley was cover designer, art editor, and illustrator. That was in addition to other projects he did on the side.
His illustrations depicted the erotic, decadent, and grotesque. Since he worked in France all his life, his alignment was more aesthetic. He did most of his images in ink and have large dark areas with contrasting large blank ones. Plus, the illustrations also had fine details with contrasting non-detailed areas.
Beardsley attracted a lot of controversy due to the kind of art into which he ventured. More often, he created dark, perverse images with grotesque erotica depictions as seen in his later work. His black and white illustrations often had a white background.
In some cases, he was inspired by Japanese Shungo artwork to create illustrations with enormous genitalia. Although he created many erotica illustrations, the most famous were themed around history and mythology, including those for a private edition of Aristophanes Lysistrata and others in Salome, a play by Oscar Wilde.
Aubrey Beardsley’s other major project are the illustrations in Alexander Pope’s The Rape of the Lock. Besides, his illustrations also featured in books, such as Le Morte d’ Arthur by Thomas Malory. He also worked for several magazines, including The Savoy and The Studio.
Beardsley co-founded The Savoy, where he worked as illustrator and writer. Thus, he wrote The Ballard of a Barber and Under the Hill for the magazine. He was also an accomplished caricaturist, producing political cartoons depicting the situation at that time. In illustration, he mirrored Oscar Wilde’s wit with the written word.
His work depicted the decadence prevalent in that era. He worked together with French symbolists and proponents of the 1890s’ Poster Art Movement and Art Nouveau artists the later period. Despite dying young, Beardsley had a significant impact on art in the 1890s and today.
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