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Aubrey Beardsley

1872–1898

Frontispiece to Chopin’s Third Ballade 1895
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In Tate Britain

Historic and Modern British Art

Biography

Aubrey Vincent Beardsley ( BEERDZ-lee; 21 August 1872 – 16 March 1898) was an English illustrator and author. His black ink drawings were influenced by Japanese woodcuts, and depicted the grotesque, the decadent, and the erotic. He was a leading figure in the aesthetic movement which also included Oscar Wilde and James McNeill Whistler. Beardsley's contribution to the development of the Art Nouveau and poster styles was significant despite his early death from tuberculosis. He is one of the important Modern Style figures.

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Symbolism Art nouveau Fin de Siècle 1 more art term …

Artworks

Left Right
  • Caprice. Verso: Masked Woman with a White Mouse

    Aubrey Beardsley
    c.1894
  • Cover Design for ‘The Yellow Book’ Vol.I

    Aubrey Beardsley
    1894
  • Design for the Frontispiece to John Davidson’s Plays

    Aubrey Beardsley
    1894
  • Professor Fred Brown

    Aubrey Beardsley
    1892
  • Messalina and her Companion

    Aubrey Beardsley
    1895
    On display at Tate Britain part of Historic and Modern British Art
  • La Dame aux Camélias

    Aubrey Beardsley
    1894
    On display at Tate Britain part of Historic and Modern British Art
  • The Fat Woman

    Aubrey Beardsley
    1894
  • Frontispiece to Chopin’s Third Ballade

    Aubrey Beardsley
    1895
    On display at Tate Britain part of Historic and Modern British Art

Artist as subject

  • Aubrey Beardsley

    Walter Richard Sickert
    1894

Film and audio

  • Inspired by

    The Art of Being a Dandy

Features

  • List

    The Story of Aubrey Beardsley in Five Artworks

Related art terms

Symbolism Art Nouveau Fin de Siècle Decadence

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