Aubrey Beardsley: A Slave to Beauty

by David Colvin

Colvin combines his particular interest in the history of clandestine publishing with his experience as an art historian to explore the work of the most notorious artist of the fin de siecle. Before he died at age 25, British illustrator and writer Beardsley created erotic drawings for Wilde's Salome, Pope's Rape of the Lock, The Lysistrata of Aristophanes, and Jonson's Valpone and to write his own highly erotic novel originally published as The Story of Venus and Tannhauser. No bibliography. Distributed by Angle Publishing Co. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Genres: Art

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

David Colvin has at various times worked as an actor, a tailor and an art historian, all roles conducive to the expression of different aspects of his particular sense of style.

He has a special interest in the history of clandestine publishing, an enthusiasm which has led him to master the art of typography in order to design and print the limited editions of arcane texts which he issues from his Cypher Press.

Reviews

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the great imports from Great Britain is its production of fancy lads, and Aubrey Beardsley should be their patron saint. Young lads like Jarvis Cocker, Brett Anderson and even Sir David of Bowie all owe a farthing to the legend of Aubrey Beardsley.

Slave To Beauty is more than an art book, but a well-researched and written biography of the legend himself. A sickly young lad who started as a promising writer but dropped for incessant sketching of teachers and Oscar Wilde (pretty funny and worth the price of admission).

The reproductions are clean as a whistle and the paper stock is smooth - would Beardsley want it any other way? A lot of the favorites are here: Salome, The Yellow Book, Morte D'Arthur, and many more. All kidding aside, a self-taught artist who left an indelible mark on the art world before his untimely death at the tender age of twenty-five has all the earmarks of legend.

[Ali Miremadi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A chance to revel in the gossip of decadent 1890s London (and Dieppe). And obviously there are the drawings.