Book Description

Customer Reviews (2)

A large collection of Beardsley's great works
Big fan of this book. It's hard to believe he created so much in so little time. This book shows off a lot these works in good detail. I believe this is a must for anyone into art nouveau or Beardsley. Beardsley's use of large black spaces and intricate detail is highly evident in this book. I give it a 8.5 out of 10. Cheers, enjoy.

Hey, take a peek at this.
Inexpensive collection of Beardsley's black & white illustrations, mostly taken from other Beardsley books in the Dover catalogue. Some erotic penwork, but Aubrey's "obscene" art is quite tame by today's standards. Some of it even adorned the covers of magazines in his own time. Of course, the big value of this collection is that it's copyright free. You can use these illustrations in your crafts & collages or scan them for your websites. So, if you like that old decadent Nineties style (I mean 1890, not 1990), this book is one window you can peek through. ... Read more

Book Description

Amazon.com
Diagnosed with tuberculosis at age 7, the talk of London before he turned 22, and dead at 25, Aubrey Beardsley (1872-1898) was a textbook example of the doomed artist he and his fellow decadents admired so much. British journalist and art critic Matthew Sturgis paints an evocative picture of the cultural milieu that shaped Beardsley, with its ferocious rivalry between the idealistic Pre-Raphaelites and the more sardonic English impressionists, who ultimately claimed Beardsley's loyalty (though the ambitious teenager initially gained the patronage of Pre-Raphaelite Edward Burne-Jones). The author's portrait of Beardsley is equally vivid, limning both his dandified affectations and underlying sweetness, his dedication to art and the distaste for sustained work that made him the despair of his publishers. Beardsley's unique black-and-white drawings--perfect for the new technology of mass reproduction--made a sensation, first with the commissioned artwork for Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur and Wilde's Salome, then in the bold periodical he founded with friends, The Yellow Book. But Wilde's trial for gross indecency tainted Beardsley (though Sturgis's take is that he was more likely a virgin than a homosexual); he was fired from The Yellow Book; and his tuberculosis worsened along with his commercial prospects. The author depicts his subject's agonized final months with the same judicious sympathy he trains on "The Beardsley Boom" of 1894. --Wendy Smith ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Perfect for the Budding Beardsleyite
Among the myriad biographies on Aubrey Beardsley, I have to say that this one stands out.Thorough, in depth and a quick read, it covers his life, work and complex personality perfectly.Although I have enjoyed immensely many other books about the man, I feel that this one provides a great starting point.From Beardsley's birth in Brighton to his untimely death in Menton, his tragic story is told with warmth, pathos and the great knowledge of a man clearly admiring of his subject.This book will open your eyes to new and startling truths about Beardsley and his work, if you have been convinced that his life was one of wanton decadence and sexual excess.What a surprise to learn that this clearly was not the case - rather, Beardsley was a most conservative man.I have for many years admired him and his work greatly, and am personally very thankful that Sturgis wrote this book.
For those more interested in a review of Beardsley's work, I'd suggest Chris Snodgrass' book, Aubrey Beardsley, Dandy of the Grotesque.It stands as a perfect companion to Sturgis' biography.

A Beardsley Biography
Matthew Sturgis' biography of the short-lived pen and ink master of blackand white imagery provides an informative and elegantly written life of ArtNoveau figure Aubrey Beardsley.Discussions of Beardsley's early years,meetings with famous figures like Oscar Wilde and James Whistler, YellowBook fame, and last years full of physical decline are covered withintelligent attention to detail.Also included are several reproductionsof Beardsley's illustrations and the critical response to them.The bookis a fast read that is accessible to those not overly familiar with the manand the period, and is also interesting to the fin-de-siecle conoisseur. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Collected Drawings of Aubrey Beardsley
What a terriffic book!Loved the black and white drawings, and the history of this designer.I wish I could have gotten a book jacket, but,
well, you sometimes have to forfit.Price was right.Arrived in Speedy time and It is a keeper.
... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (9)

Excellent play with beautiful illustrations
I bought this book for a class, but while I sold most of them back this beauty I kept.The play itself is obscure.Since it was written in (rather poor) French originally and translated back into English, it lacks some of Oscar Wilde's trademark style.This is not to say that the style of the play is without its own merits.As the book is the retelling of a Biblical story- that of Salome, daughter of King Herod, and John the Baptist (Iokanaan in this rendition)- the style of the play often mocks Biblical style.The wording is thus often repetitive and simple, but there's a beauty to it that is in many ways indescrible.While wordy, there is also a particular depth to it that you'll miss if you don't look carefully.Thematically, the play was very entertaining and I enjoyed the revisionist take on the Biblical story.Overall I found this work enthralling.This particular edition is beautiful- it includes all of Aubre Beardsley's stunning ink illustrations of the play. This is well worth having on your bookshelf (although it is rather large- 8x11)

"The Mystery of Love Is Greater Than The Mystery Of Death"
Oscar Wilde's 1905 shocking, controversial play is no longer as disturbing to modern desensitized audiences and critics/literary scholars who recognize it as a play of psychological/Freudian aspects and as a fin-de-siecle example of the Decadence movement in the arts. Wilde's flowery, poetically lyrical, Biblically-influenced orutund words is devilishly at variance with its cruel violence and horror. In this edition, we are treated to the full illustrations by Aubrey Beardsley, Wilde's friend and himself a playwright and exponent of the Decadence. The pictures are dark, erotically charged but full of feminine lines and flowery imagery which were typical of Art-Noveau style in art/architecture. This is the entire play in a single act and I find makes a eye-grabbing book to put on your coffee table so guests can marvel at it. You'd be surprised to see the looks I get from them whenever they see the cover art!!

Wilde did not regard this work as his greatest when compared to his others, most notably The Importance Of Being Earnest. Shortly after Salome premiered, Oscar Wilde poked fun at himself and his play by dressing in drag in Salome's sexy costume for a photograph. It's likely Wilde had a bit of fun in writing a play that was bound to turn heads in a society fresh out of the Victorian Era. The words are indeed poetic and beautiful descriptions of nature, spirituality and romance mix with carnal innuendo.

The main characters- King Herod, Queen Herodias and Salome- are each in dire need of therapy, though they themselves may not admit it being a vainglorious and proud royal family. Queen Herodias became a target of John the Baptists' righteous anger and condemnation because according to old Mosaic Law she sinned by marrying the brother of her deceased first husband and thus committed incest. Full of hatred for the Prophet, she waited for the right moment to extract her revenge as well an opportunity to get him to "shut up" forever through his death. John the Baptist languished in prison at King Herod's Palace Dungeon, though in Wilde's play it was changed to a cistern in the palace courtyard garden. Herod thought it better he live the rest of his life in prison rather than be executed, for internally, Herod had always suspected that John was a reincarnation of the long dead Prophet Elias. Perhaps he thought that his presence would bring good fortune to his home. Herod has his own complexities. This is not the same Herod who ordered the deaths of the infants upon Jesus's birth. This Herod, possibly the son, ruled Jerusalem as a puppet-king and was a sycophant to the Roman Emperor. He lusted after his own daughter or stepdaughter Salome. "You stare at her too much" says the jealous Herodias whom we assume is aging and lackluster compared to her teenage, nubile daughter. Herod entertains sexual thoughts about his daughter and is aroused when she dances her famous Dance of the Seven Veils. I don't buy that he was just dead drunk. He has always lusted after Salome. But...he was in awe of John the Baptist and secretly respected him which is why he is so reluctant and even opposed to have his head severed upon Salome's request.

As for the eponymous heroine herself, she has been a subject of scholarly chat, art, literature, poetry and music throughout the years. Richard Strauss composed a celebrated opera based on this very play in 1905 and the soprano singing the role is in for a challenge because not only must she look young and dance, but her voice must be gargantuan and yet delicate. Salome found herself within the poetic themes of French poet Stephen Mallarme among others and orchestral compositions were made about her. Why does Salome ask for the head of Jon the Baptist ? Simply put, she's crazy young girl. She is only a teenager, probably between the ages of 15 and 18, awakening to her own sexuality which can be a confusing time. She is naive and inexperienced, spoiled rotten and mentally disturbed. She is fascinated with Jon the Baptist as a child would be with a new toy. He is foreign, exotic and mysterious to her and that's what makes him sexually attractive to her. More specifically, she is enamored of his lips though she believes the rest of his features are hideous. Since the Prophet rejects women and worldly things, he scolds Salome's sinfulness and refuses to kiss her, refuses to even turn and look at her face to face. This spurs Salome's anger. No man has ever found her unattractive or turned her down. The Palace Guard Nabbaroth kills himself out of frustated love for her. Many men are intoxicated by her beauty. The jealous, sexually frustrated Salome has reason enough to want Jon the Baptist's head on a platter. I have always felt that Salome was not a naive, thoughtless girl that her mother the Queen used as a pawn for her own revenge, as the Bible seems to imply. Salome had her own reasons for wanting the head of the Prophet. The truth is very disturbing as it would seem that Salome wanted his severed head as a sexy toy. "You would not suffer to kiss me when you were alive," she says in the play," and now you're dead and I'm alive and I have kissed your lips, Jochanaan." Necrophilia at its ugliest! It was for a sick, sexual pleasure that she demanded his head. Yet for all this, Wilde makes her a sympathetic, pitiful figure. We the audience are able to see her thought process through her words each time the Prophet rejects her and we see before our eyes her mental breakdown. Even so, one cannot help but wonder if this child of sin is right about certain claims she brings up. Salome believes that if John the Baptist had turned to look at her just once, he would have fallen in love with her. Could this be true ? Is this why the Prophet controlled himself and averted his eyes ? Salome claims that the Prophet is the only man she ever truly loved, which is a fallible even illogical statement when considering Salome appears to be a virgin, a girl on her first crush and has never experienced mature adult sexual relationships. Salome may be a ditzy, emotional and mental wreck but she has one of the most thought-provoking and inspirational lines I've ever heard in a play: "The mystery of love is greater than the mystery of death" which contain in its own way a kind of spirituality. Throught the play the most mysterious, unknowable character is John the Baptist, who, parrot-like, quotes Biblical passages and preaches in a fire-and-brimstone kind of way and never once reveals any of his true character. The play is great and though it's not performed today, it continues to fascinate readers everywhere. And by the way, the proper pronounciation for Salome is not "salami" like the food but sounds more French: Sa-Lo-May.

Strange, but I love the illustration
Beardsley's illustrations for Wilde's "Salome" are quite well known. I enjoyed seeing them, in unexpurgated forms, in the context of the script they were meant to adorn. I think I can see wonderful possibilities in staging that play, where modern sensibilities could show and accept what England of 1892 could not. Even so, I found the script itself somewhat repetitive, with more in it to startle than to explain. Perhaps there's a knack to reading this script that I haven't mastered.

This isn't the only place to find Beardsley's "Salome" illustrations. Other books show the uncensored forms of the pictures, too. This book, however, reproduces them in larger format and crisper printing than the others I know, and is worthwhile for at least that reason.

//wiredwierd

Salomé by Oscar Wilde
The last reviewer has totally missed the genius of this incredible dramatic work. The story as told in this one act play has nothing to do with the theology of Christian Biblical Mythology.It is a carefully constructed a meticulously executed examination of 'real' personalities interacting within a particular network of historical and social relationships.The unfulfilled passion which drives Wilde's Salomé to murderous revenge is deeply convincing within the context and the characterisation of the personalities created by this greatly inspired Anglo-Irish dramatist.

Complaining that a literary work does not reflect accurately some personally perceived 'historical' truth is like complaining about the historical accuracy of Shakespeare's 'Julius Caesar' - it is missing the point entirely!

This play is a gripping, fast-moving tragedy which deals with the darker side of human nature vividly, imaginatively and with unguarded honesty.It is not, of course, like Wilde's other more popular plays which were designed to be humorous, witty and light.This like 'De Profundis'' "A picture of Dorian Gray' or some of his truly magnificent later poems, ranks as one of Wilde's greatest contributions to modern English literature.If you haven't already read it, do so - or better still - buy a few copies and stage it!

Macabre Gem
Salome is a play based on the bibical story of the beheading of John the Baptist.As the story opens, Salome becomes fascinated by this man of God, and the fascination quickly devolves into lust.She desires John and does her best to tempt him.However, John doesn't give in and he holds onto his faith.With each rejection, she becomes angrier and angrier.In the end, she is driven to bloodlust, and orders for the head of John the Baptist.

The language of this play is beautiful to read and highly poetic.This is one of the best plays for reading.Of course you can draw your own conclusions as to the relationship between lust and bloodlust.False passions lead to bad ends. ... Read more

Book Description
Aubrey Vincent Beardsley, illustrator and writer, was the most notorious and outstanding artist of thefin de siècle. His disturbing erotic drawings shocked the sensibilities of the Victorians and his friendship and collaboration with Oscar Wilde has secured his place in the pantheon of great artists of the 19th century. Jaques-Emile Blanche's portrait of Bearsley, his face 'like a silver hatchet', is the enduring image of this fabulously talented man who died at the age of just 25. Beardsley's most important illustrations were for Wilde's Salome, Popes The Rape of the Lock, The Lysistrata of Aristophanes and Jonson's Valpone. He was art editor of the hugely influential Yellow Book from which he was dismissed following the arrest of Wilde becoming thereafter the creative editor of the 'Savoy' magazine. He went on to write the highly erotic romance The Story of Venus and Tannhauser which was published in an unexpurgated version as Under the Hill.This extraordinary man created some of the most striking and enduring images of the last one hundred years. His influence on Oscar Wilde and his circle was profound and his achievements in such a short life is one of the great literary and artistic stories of the 19th century. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Perfect Introduction to Beardsley's Life and Work
A quick read, and packed with wonderful photographs and drawings, this book is a great treat for the new Beardsley fan.This book re-opened my eyes to his work, and broadened my horizons, as to who he was, and the life that he led.In other words, it laid the foundation for my further studies of Aubrey Beardsley, and his artistic contribution to the world.

The information is thorough and accurate, and the images are a joy to behold - so much so, in fact, that I purchased a second copy for the sole purpose of cutting out and framing them, for hanging in my drawing studio.Also, the brief nature of the book is helpful, in that it doesn't require the reader to commit, as is necessary for a longer biography.It serves as an ideal introduction.I would strongly recommend it, however, to both those who have just discovered Beardsley, and those who have long loved Beardsley's work. ... Read more

Product Description
Book is an important work for those interested in the origins and development of modern art, and for those fascinated by a unique and splendid talent that flourished far too briefly. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Exotic renderings of the sensual and the grotesque shocked London society in the 1890s
Among the newest titles in this outstanding Dover Publications series are "Beardsley Illustrations: 221 Royalty-Free Designs" showcasing the work of Aubrey Beardsley whose exotic renderings of the sensual and the grotesque shocked London society in the 1890s and have continued endured in popularity as magazine cover designs, title pages, and poster art. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Early Beardsley
This is a remarkable work. First, it is Beardsley's earliest commission, illustrations for Malory's classic. For that reason alone, it will interest fans of Beardsley's drawings.

Second, and what really fascinates me, is that Beardsley developed his drawing style visibly over the course of the 580+ works in this project. When I look at the drawings for the first few chapters, they seem harsh and angular (p.22 for example). In other samples (e.g. p.18-19), Beardsley uses textures to generate tonal effects. By the end of the book, his drawings are much closer to his more familiar style. The lines are more graceful, and there is less use of the middle tones - broad solid blacks and whites dominate.

This is certainly a book for the Beardsley fan. It is also a distinctive example for anyone unsure of what "an artist's development" refers to.

Just a small warning, though - this contains only fragments of the Malory text, and many of the drawings do not appear with the printing that defined their original context. This is about Beardsley's drawings, not about the book in which they appeared.

//wiredweird ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A necessity for any fan of Beardsley
This book has ALL of Beardsley's work accompanied with insightful text. Beware, though -- some of his drawings are of extremely crude sexual nature -- definitely not a book you want on your coffee table when you have in-laws coming in from out of town.

Beardsley did much of his work for shock value, much like his buddy Oscar Wilde, so this is not necessarily TASTEFUL nnudity here. For those who can stomach it though, acquainting yourself with this artist is worthwhile.

Luscious Beardsley - exotica and erotica
This is a large volume (212 pages, incl. index) of Beardsley drawings, mostly in chronological order representing his six years of major creativity - being only 26 when he died.

Extract from 1967 cover: "Here is the art of Aubrey Beardsley full of beauty and decadence, sensuality and sin."

His work is easily recognizable; a unique style of black-and-white line drawings, influenced by Japanese woodcuts and Art Nouveau. ... Read more

Book Description
At twenty the "Fra Angelico of Satanism", as Roger Fry was to call Aubrey Beardsley, was an obscure clerk in a London insurance firm. Three years later he was the most notorious — and perhaps the most influential — artist in England.

Here, then, is the marvelous boy—he died at twenty-five—as human being and as complex and tragic genius, in the rich context of 150 examples of his graphic art.

The original version of Aubrey Beardsley was a National Book Award nominee. ... Read more

Product Description
This rare and petite book features eleven drawings by Aubrey Beardsley, and also an ORIGINAL COVER DESIGN by Beardsley, unique to this edition. This edition followed the illustrated quarto published by Smithers a year earlier. This book was published in a limited edition of 1000 copies, and printed on art paper. An exquisite & quite distinctive objet d'art, it has become known as the "Bijou" edition. BIJOU Pronunciation: 'bE-"zhüFunction: nounEtymology: French, from Breton bizou ring, from biz finger1 : a small dainty usually ornamental piece of delicate workmanship : JEWEL2 : something delicate, elegant, or highly prized.As John Russell Taylor notes in The Art Nouveau Book in Britain: "The designs for the Rape of the Lock are certainly a unique tour de force, both imaginatively and technically. Instead of the bold, clear juxtapositions of black and white, the glitter and sparkle of the Salome drawings, everything here is light and fragile, fine and graceful as gossamer. Beardsley has not abandoned altogether his earlier decorative conventions: the compositions are still devised with extreme skill to suppress all evidence of recession, to preserve the spatial ambiguity which has always been such a telling feature of his work- the Rape of the Lock drawings are very much, like their predecessors, patterns in two dimensions. But here the form of the patterns has changed radically; the hard, clean lines of the earlier work have been dissolved in many places into shimmering threads of tiny dots, suggesting with extraordinary vividness and economy flounces of fine lace and delicate embroidery. [...] In general the series may be regarded as one of Beardsley's most complete achievements- as well as one of his most immediately influential. "The Rape of the Lock is a mock-heroic poem written by Alexander Pope, first published in 1712. ... Read more

Amazon.com
There was little that fin-de-siècle artist Aubrey Beardsley's famous gold-nibbed pen could not illustrate--drawings, posters, bookbindings. Though he died of tuberculosis at the age of 25, he left an enormous body of work behind that found a willing audience during his lifetime in the more outré circles of the "naughty '90s" and now symbolizes the decadence of the 1890s. Beardsley possessed an astonishing range of expression, but he is perhaps most famous for his outrageous erotic drawings--many of which adorned such artistic magazines as the Savoy and the Yellow Book. He pushed public opinion to the limit with his sequence of graphic illustrations for Aristophanes's Lysistrata, which, deemed obscene, remained unpublished until 1966.

Biographer Stephen Calloway curated the centenary exhibition of Beardsley's work at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London during autumn of 1998. He closely scrutinizes Beardsley's life in the light of his subversive drawings in this in-depth, superbly illustrated biography that coincides with the exhibition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Disappointing and Amateurish
It's hard to believe that Taschen published this book. The text contains many basic errors, and the author ascribes various drawings to Beardsley that are widely known to be fakes. Also, the reproduction quality on some drawings is poor. It's a shame because Taschen is generally a really good publisher.

Fantastic overview, great reproduction, must have book
This is an excellent addition to any Beardsley fan's bookshelf. Great reproductions, some rare drawings I've never seen, and interesting photos and supporting artwork and photos of the same era. Very readable, jolly good show! ... Read more