Who is Aubrey Beardsley?

Aubrey Beardsley (1872-1898) was an English artist and writer of the Victorian period. His distinctive Art Nouveau pen and ink drawings make dramatic use of contrast between dark and light areas. Beardsley’s drawings were featured in many books during his lifetime, including Oscar Wilde's Salome, Thomas Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur, and Aristophanes' Lysistrata. Beardsley's work is often grotesque and erotic. It was controversial for its time, and continues to have shock value for some in our present day. Beardsley also wrote and illustrated Under the Hill, an incomplete erotic work based on the legend of Tannhauser, who according to German legend, was a knight and poet who discovered the underground home of the goddess Venus, and eventually became torn between two opposite women: Venus and "Elizabeth." Beardsley was born in Brighton, England on 21 August 1872, to middle class parents who struggled to make ends meet. He had one older sister, named Mabel. Beardsley suffered from ...  more

Born on August 21, 1872 in Brighton, England, Aubrey Beardsley was a consummate artist in his chosen field of pen and ink drawings and had an everlasting effect on poster art. A child of the Industrial Age, Aubrey's work was tailored to the mass produced work ethic of the time. Though born into a genteel family, Aubrey and his sister Mabel were often destitute. Both Aubrey and Mabel, who later on became an actor, were infant prodigies, gifted in the music and the arts. In 1884, Aubrey was sent off to the Boston Grammar School. In 1889, he got a job as a clerk in an insurance firm. Frustrated with his job, Aubrey wished admittance into the art world, which happened soon enough.  more