Aubrey Beardsley facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Aubrey Beardsley
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Portrait of Beardsley by Frederick Hollyer, 1893
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Aubrey Vincent Beardsley
21 August 1872 |
| Died | 16 March 1898 (aged 25) |
| Resting place | Cimetière du Vieux-Château, Menton, France |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | Westminster School of Art |
| Known for | Illustration, graphics/graphic arts |
| Movement | Art Nouveau, aestheticism |
Aubrey Vincent Beardsley (born August 21, 1872 – died March 16, 1898) was a talented English illustrator and writer. He was famous for his black ink drawings, which were inspired by Japanese woodcuts. Aubrey Beardsley was a key artist in the Aesthetic movement. This art style focused on beauty for its own sake. Other famous artists in this movement included Oscar Wilde and James Abbott McNeill Whistler. Even though he died young from tuberculosis, Beardsley greatly helped shape the Art Nouveau and poster art styles. He is considered an important figure in the British Art Nouveau style, also known as the Modern Style.
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His Early Life and Education
Aubrey Beardsley was born in Brighton, Sussex, England. His birthday was August 21, 1872. His father, Vincent Paul Beardsley, came from a family of jewellers. However, Vincent did not have a job himself. He lived off money he inherited.
Aubrey's mother, Ellen Agnus Pitt, came from a well-known family in Brighton. Aubrey also had an older sister named Mabel. When Aubrey was seven, he got tuberculosis. This was a serious illness that affected his lungs.
In 1883, Aubrey's family moved to London. His father worked different jobs to support them. Aubrey started attending Brighton, Hove and Sussex Grammar School in 1885. He spent four years there. His first poems, drawings, and cartoons were printed in the school's magazine.
After school, Aubrey worked in an architect's office. Later, he worked for an insurance company. In 1891, two famous artists, Sir Edward Burne-Jones and Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, advised him to become a professional artist. In 1892, he studied art at the Westminster School of Art.
His Artistic Work
In 1892, Beardsley visited Paris, France. There, he saw the amazing poster art of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. He also discovered the popular Japanese prints. These styles greatly influenced his own art.
His first big art job was illustrating Le Morte d'Arthur by Thomas Malory in 1893. This was for a publishing company called J.M. Dent and Company. In 1894, he also illustrated a new translation of Lucian’s True History.
Beardsley's Unique Style
Aubrey Beardsley created a lot of art in just six years. You can often tell when his work was made by how he signed it. At first, his art was mostly unsigned. Then, he started using his initials, A.V.B.
Later, he used a special Japanese-inspired mark. This mark became more elegant over time. Sometimes, he added "A.B." in capital letters next to it.
Beardsley helped start a magazine called The Yellow Book with American writer Henry Harland. He was the art editor for the first four issues. He designed the covers and created many illustrations for the magazine.
His art style was part of Aestheticism. This movement focused on beauty and art for art's sake. Most of his pictures were drawn with ink. They often had large dark areas next to large blank spaces. He also mixed fine details with areas that had no detail at all.
He also made many illustrations for other books and magazines. He worked for magazines like The Studio and The Savoy. He was a co-founder of The Savoy. This allowed him to publish his own writings as well as his illustrations.
Beardsley was also a caricaturist. He drew some political cartoons. His art often showed the "decadence" of his time. This means it reflected a focus on luxury and artificial beauty. His influence was huge. You can see his style in the work of French Symbolist artists and many later Art Nouveau artists.
His Private Life
Aubrey Beardsley was known for being a bit unusual, both in public and private. He was very careful about his clothes. He often wore dove-grey suits, hats, ties, and yellow gloves. He even showed up at his publisher's office in a fancy morning coat and court shoes.
Throughout his life, Beardsley had many attacks of tuberculosis. He often had lung bleeding. This made it hard for him to work or even leave his home.
His Death
In December 1896, Beardsley had a very serious lung bleed. This left him in very poor health. In April 1897, his health got worse. He moved to the French Riviera, a warm coastal area in France. He died there a year later, on March 16, 1898. He was only 25 years old. He died from tuberculosis at a hotel in Menton, France. His mother and sister were with him. After a funeral service, he was buried in the Cimetière du Trabuquet.
Images for kids
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Illustration from Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, 1894
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The Fall of the House of Usher, 1894–5
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Venus between Terminal Gods, 1895
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Messalina and her Companion, Tate Britain, 1895
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Et in Arcadia Ego, 1896
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The driving of Cupid from the garden, preparatory drawing for the cover design of The Savoy (no. 3, July 1896)
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Isolde, illustration in Pan magazine, 1899
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Withered Spring, unknown date, National Gallery of Art
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See also
In Spanish: Aubrey Beardsley para niños
