Aubrey Beardsley: Decadence and Desire

by Jan Marsh

Aubrey Beardsley (1872–1898) was only twenty-five when he died from tuberculosis, but in his short life he established a reputation as one of the most accomplished—and controversial—illustrators of his day. Astonishingly, all his work was created in the course of only six years, yet his contribution to the visual language of Art Nouveau was profound; today, his work is instantly recognizable for its use of black ink and flowing lines on white paper, along with its erotically charged subject matter. Not all his work was sexually provocative—much was satirical, attacking the decadent mores of the time—but some was and remains shocking, taking its stylistic inspiration from Japanese shunga and Greek vase painting and its thematic inspiration from mythology, history, poetry, and drama.


This beautifully designed, accessibly priced book offers a wealth of illustrations by Beardsley, and introduces his exquisitely crafted drawings and prints to a new audience. Including a fascinating text by Jan Marsh, Aubrey Beardsley brings together a carefully curated selection of works from Beardsley’s tragically short but highly productive life.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction

144 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2020

Reviews

[Luca Suede · Rating 2 out of 5]

Giving this the stars it got because of the history work around the infamous “Yellow Book.” & it’s beautiful because it contains Beardsley’s illustrations. But I expected more conversation around desire because it is…in the title. The author arguing Beardsley wasn’t gay bc he once said to a famous straight person “I look like a sodomite but I’m not.” Then casually mentioning he and Wilde moved closed to each other where Wilde lived under an alias and they were often seen shopping together and picking out each other hats???? Girl Beardsley was queer and drew queer characters doing queer things illustrating for queer authors. The author didn’t even include the original “hermaphrodite” drawing of Cupid and the pillar for the cover of Wilde’s “Salome” she included the version with the EDITED GENITALS. Don’t read this book just google Beardsley

[OscarBeardsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing book. I loved the composition of the pages and the smaller details.
But I do wonder why they assume Aubrey Beardsley was trying to attack Oscar Wilde and homosexual culture so much?
Sometimes this conclusion comes out of nowhere, and most of the times it would be more logical to say that he was just interested or engaged in gay/trans culture.
Besides this it's a great book.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is more of a well-crafted overview of Aubrey Beardsley's life and work, than an in-depth look at either. Good for newcomers of Aubrey Beardsley's work, but if you'd like something more detailed - other books or the documentrary on Beardsley's life would be good for you.

[Gary Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all, you need to know that this is a little gnome of a book: 7x8 inches, 144 pages; about half the size of a regular "art book". The quality of the paper and binding are good but the printing not so much. Fortunately most of Beardsley's work is "line" or strictly black & white, and it's kinda hard to mess that up. But the printing of the greyscale and color pieces is dark. Dark and, for the most part, small. I'm somewhat visually impaired, so they look like mud.

Jan Marsh's biographical introduction and captions are good, although they raise more questions than they answer about his personal and professional relationships with Oscar Wilde, Edward Burne-Jones and James McNeill Whistler. The overall effect of this book is to make me want to know more, about both Beardsley and his milieu. Hopefully, that is as Marsh intended.

[Fern · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compact and beautiful overview of Beardsley’s life and works.

[Andrea Engle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This concise biography provides an excellent introduction to the artist, who died at 25 … crammed with annotated illustrations … a genuine gem …

[Erin · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

Boyfriend is only 25 when he died. No wonder. But he does understand the importance of ornamentation hierarchy and contrast.

[Sjoerd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very short and beautiful book about the life and art from Aubrey Beardsley. Died at 25 he created illustrations and art from magazines and books. For example he illustrated a play from Oscar Wilde (and kept on satirizing him in later art), created the art for the novella The Great God Pan from Arthur Machen and created all kinds of drawings for a book with stories around the King Arthur legends.

I liked the style of this book, it seemed to focus on the more controversial art pieces and it gave a brief overview of the life and times of Beardsley.