…Hide your eyes! The whiplash world of Aubrey Beardsley! Naughty but nice.

How much do I LOVE the work of English Illustrator Aubrey Beardsley? Very much indeed. I have loved it for years and years..since I was very small (when presumably I filtered out all the “naughty bits” and just loved all the pattern and the long swishy dresses!!) Aged about 14, I went to visit an exhibition of his work with my mum and her very proper and posh cousin and I had to walk around by myself to spare their blushes (and my own vain attempts to stifle my hysterical giggles!)

The whiplash refers to Beardsley’s trademark delicate and powerful pen lines, done in one go – this is an amazing skill – I have tried and tried to do this and I simply can’t get mine to look like his!

The beautiful, stylised feathers on the image above show exactly what I mean! Gorgeous.

The two images below show Beardsley at his arrogant best. Thoughtful, studious aesthetic and upper class. His early death aged 25 from tuberculosis was a tragedy and one can only surmise what treasures he would have gone on to produce, should he have lived longer.

Beardsley is someone I revisit time and again…one of the many things I love about his work is, I think, the fact that most of it was in black and white, meaning the viewer is not distracted by colour, but lets the beauty of his flawless penmanship speak for itself.

Lovely, lovely, lovely,…so much pattern and detail. I could look at these images for hours. Beardsley will remain a favourite of mine for the rest of my life. They are kind of like nightmare fairytale drawings…and …Phew…hardly any naughty bits!! Believe me, there are lots!!

The image above is a rare venture in to colour. I do prefer the monochrome pieces, but this image of Isolde is beautiful, no doubt. I love how Beardsley’s women often look angry and disdainful – witches and bitches maybe?

 

Beardsley’s work leant itself extremely well to being used on book jackets, posters and advertising. In an age before the technical accuracy of computer generated images, which become flat and generic due to their perfection, you are never quite sure where Beardsley’s work will take you. Very much inspired by the medieval period and myths and legends like those featuring King Arthur and the knights of the round table, Beardsley seemed to be a man born in the wrong time…I can imagine him as a scribe, illustrating manuscripts in a cold scriptorium, prior to the dissolution.

As an admirer of all things made by hand, Aubrey Beardsley sits right at the top of my list of favourites…He was zentangling a long time before the word was even thought of! Even more to be admired due to the fact that he was using a dip pen, not the smooth running, cartridge pens that are available today.

My favourite character from the “Comedia Del Arte” – poor old Pierrot! He looks like he is about to settle down with a good book and a cuppa! Speaking of which…