Aubrey Beardsley – part 4

Self-Portrait

Aubrey Beardsley (1872 – 1898) was an English illustrator and author. His drawings in black ink, influenced by the style of Japanese woodcuts, emphasised 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 the brevity of his career before his early death from tuberculosis at the age of 25.

This is part 4 of a 7-part post on the works of Aubrey Beardsley. For biographical notes and for earlier works see part 1 - 3 also:

1893-94 Réjane

c1893-94 Raphael Sanzio

1893-96 Keynote Series of Novels and Short Stories

Aubrey Beardsley illustrated the series of modern "woman-friendly" novels published by John Lane in the mid 1890s as a response to the emergence of the concept of the "New Woman". Beardsley and Lane were also working on 'The Yellow Book' at this time. Beardsley's cover design for the first book in the series, George Egerton's "Keynotes", resulted in the series becoming synonymous with fin-de-siecle decadence. An ornamental key, embodying the author's monogram was adopted on the title pages and back cover of each volume of the series:

1893 Design for Keynotes by George Egerton

1893 Keynotes by George Egerton

1893 Title page for Pagan Papers

1894 Cover for "Poor Folk by Fedor Dostoievsky"

1894 Title page for Poor Folk

1894 A Child of the Age by Francis Adams

1894 Title page for A Child of the Age by Francis Adams

Design for front cover The Great God Pan and The Inmost Light

The Great God Pan and The Inmost Light

Design for cover of Discords by George Egerton

1895 Prince Zaleski by M. P. Shiel

Cover design for The Woman Who Did by Grant Allen

Cover design for Grey Roses by Henry Harland

Title page for Grey Roses by Henry Harland

1895 At the First Corner and Other Stories by H. B. Marriot Watson

1895 Monochromes by Ella D'Arcy

1895 At The Relton Arms by Evelyn Sharp

1895 The Girl From The Farm by Gertrude Dix

Cover of The Mirror of Music by Stanley V. Makower

Title page for The Mirror of Music by Stanley V. Makower

Title page for Yellow and White by W. Carlton Dawe

1895 Design for title page of The Mountain Lovers by Fiona Macleod

1895 The Mountain Lovers by Fiona Macleod

1895 Title page to Young Ofeg's Ditties

1896 Title page for Nobody's Fault by Netta Syrett

Design for The Three Imposters by Arthur Machen

Design for The British Barbarians by Grant Allen

Design for Platonic Affections by John Smith

1896 Design for the cover of 'The Barbarous Britishers'

1896 The Barbarous Britishers

1896 Design for Circular advertising Keynotes Series

1894 Advertisement for Children's Books 
lithograph 76 x 50.7 cm

1894 Design for St Paul's 
 ink 12.8 x 12.9 cm

1894 Design for Frontispiece to John Davidson's Plays 
graphite, pen and ink and wash on paper 28.6 x 18.7 cm

1894 Frontispiece to Baron Verdigris "A Romance of the Reversed Direction"

1894 L'Education Sentimentale 
graphite, ink and watercolour 27.6 x 9 cm

1894 Madame Réjane
 ink and wash 35.6 x 23 cm

1894 Pierrot as Caddie invitation card designed for the opening of The Prince's Ladies' Golf Club, Mitcham

1894 Poster advertising 'A Comedy of Sighs', a play by John Todhunter 
lithograph and letterpress 76.1 x 50.8 cm

1894 Poster for the Royal Avenue Theatre, London ( now The Playhouse )

1894 The Cambridge A.B.C. No.1

1894 Réjane published in The Studio 1898
red crayon and black ink

1894 The Fat Woman ( caricature of Mrs. Whistler ) first published in "To-Day"

1894-5 Venus Between Terminal Gods frontispiece for "The Story of Venus and Tannhauser"