The best of Aubrey Beardsley

by Kenneth M. Clark

The Best of Aubrey Beardsley

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, History, British Literature, 19th Century

173 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Sir Kenneth Mackenzie Clark (1903 -1983) was a British art historian, museum director, and broadcaster. After running two important art galleries in the 1930s and 1940s, he came to wider public notice on television, presenting a succession of programmes on the arts during the 1950s and 1960s, culminating in the Civilisation series in 1969.

The son of rich parents, Clark was introduced to the arts at an early age. Among his early influences were the writings of John Ruskin, which instilled in him the belief that everyone should have access to great art. After coming under the influence of the connoisseur and dealer Bernard Berenson, Clark was appointed director of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford aged twenty-seven, and three years later he was put in charge of Britain's National Gallery. His twelve years there saw the gallery transformed to make it accessible and inviting to a wider public.

During the Second World War, when the collection was moved from London for safe keeping, Clark made the building available for a series of daily concerts which proved a celebrated morale booster during the Blitz.

After the war, and three years as Slade Professor of Fine Art at Oxford, Clark surprised many by accepting the chairmanship of the UK's first commercial television network. Once the service had been successfully launched he agreed to write and present programmes about the arts. These established him as a household name in Britain, and he was asked to create the first colour series about the arts, Civilisation, first broadcast in 1969 in Britain and in many other countries soon afterwards.

Among many honours, Clark was knighted at the unusually young age of thirty-five, and three decades later was made a life peer shortly before the first transmission of Civilisation. Three decades after his death, Clark was celebrated in an exhibition at Tate Britain in London, prompting a reappraisal of his career by a new generation of critics and historians. Opinions varied about his aesthetic judgment, particularly in attributing paintings to old masters, but his skill as a writer and his enthusiasm for popularising the arts were widely recognised. Both the BBC and the Tate described him in retrospect as one of the most influential figures in British art of the twentieth century.

Reviews

[Emma Sea · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a cheap book with a good range of Beardsley's work this is a winner.

The black ink varies in intensity, but only a few of the images in my copy were marginal. The paper is a pretty good quality for a budget line, although you do get some shadowing from the other page (see pic). The images are well-placed on the page with plenty of white space (also see pic).

Best of all, there's a variety of Beardsley's work; from book illustrations (including Salome & Mort d'Arthur), magazine illustrations, book covers, posters, a Christmas card etc.

It's a very good introduction to his work, and cheap enough you could happily let this loose amongst grabbyhands if you were teaching an art class.

[Kirsty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clark is cutting; he's almost vicious in some of his prose. He certainly holds no prisoners. Beardsley's art has these qualities to it too in places; whilst it is fascinating to see his oeuvre, it was often rather a creepy experience too. I didn't know much about Beardsley as an individual before beginning, so in that sense I'm pleased that I picked this up. I far would have preferred to read something a little more impartial, however.

[Miz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really good reproduction of some of the more unknown or unusual illustrations by Beardsley, as well as some of the classics. The author carried a weird personal bias all the way through, dictating that Beardsley's prose was absurd and the characters in his drawings were marked more or less with 'evil'. Not really the general critical discussion I was looking for.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bit more of a coffee table book than educational, but still awesome thanks to the plates of Beardsley's work. I prefer Stephen Calloway's book but he wrote significantly more on the artist and included more images.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a wonderful and strange mind he had!

Such intricate work! I wonder how long each piece took him, on average.

[Ingrid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent selection of Beardsley’s work from various periods. Would have liked a little more context for some of the pieces, or perhaps a longer introduction.

[Juan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Valuable mainly for the reproductions of Beardsley's drawings. I found the introductory text and the short commentaries that accompany each of the drawings to be only mildly interesting.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ave Atque Vale.