Beardsley — Selected Works

Aubrey Beardsley — @beardsley

Xibit360 Curated Exhibition · Curated by Xibit360

Aubrey Beardsley had only six working years, and he used them to change what a line could do. This room brings together his early drawings, his borders and chapter headings for Le Morte d'Arthur, his illustrations for Edgar Allan Poe and The Rape of the Lock, and his poster for The Yellow Book. From the open-access collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art; every image is in the public domain.

Virgilius the Sorcerer — Aubrey Beardsley
No. 01

Virgilius the Sorcerer

Aubrey Beardsley — 1888

Collection: The Art Institute of Chicago · CC0 · Source image

View details

Virgilius the Sorcerer

Aubrey Beardsley — 1888

23.3 × 14.3 cm · Pen and brush and black ink, over traces of graphite, on ivory wove paper, laid down on board

Collection: The Art Institute of Chicago · CC0 · Source image

The Toilet, from The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope — Aubrey Beardsley
No. 02

The Toilet, from The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope

Aubrey Beardsley — 1890

Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image

View details

The Toilet, from The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope

Aubrey Beardsley — 1890

In this drawing, Aubrey Beardsley illustrates an early scene in Alexander Pope’s satirical masterpiece The Rape of the Lock (1712) in which the heroine, Belinda, primps in her boudoir. Reflecting the poem’s emphasis on contrived rather than natural beauty, the drawing is densely layered with artifice. A view of an idyllic garden with a cupola-topped pavilion is glimpsed not through a window as it would first seem, but on a folding screen. The bejeweled bottles littering the table serve as emblems of Belinda’s vanity.

25.6 × 17.4 cm · pen and black ink with traces of graphite underdrawing

Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image

The Litany of Mary Magdalen — Aubrey Beardsley
No. 03

The Litany of Mary Magdalen

Aubrey Beardsley — 1891

Collection: The Art Institute of Chicago · CC0 · Source image

View details

The Litany of Mary Magdalen

Aubrey Beardsley — 1891

22.7 × 16.9 cm · Graphite on cream wove paper laid down on board

Collection: The Art Institute of Chicago · CC0 · Source image

Portrait of Whistler in Spanish 17th Century Costume — Aubrey Beardsley
No. 04

Portrait of Whistler in Spanish 17th Century Costume

Aubrey Beardsley — 1892

Collection: The Art Institute of Chicago · CC0 · Source image

View details

Portrait of Whistler in Spanish 17th Century Costume

Aubrey Beardsley — 1892

7.8 × 8.5 cm · Pen and black ink, on ivory wove paper

Collection: The Art Institute of Chicago · CC0 · Source image

Study for How a Devil in Woman's Likeness Would Have Tempted Sir Bors — Aubrey Beardsley
No. 05

Study for How a Devil in Woman's Likeness Would Have Tempted Sir Bors

Aubrey Beardsley — 1893

Collection: The Art Institute of Chicago · CC0 · Source image

View details

Study for How a Devil in Woman's Likeness Would Have Tempted Sir Bors

Aubrey Beardsley — 1893

26.5 × 38.9 cm · Pen and black ink, with brush and black wash, over graphite, on tan wove paper

Collection: The Art Institute of Chicago · CC0 · Source image

Praying Angels and Poppies (Border Design for Thomas Malory, "Le Morte d'Arthur," J. M. Dent 1893–94, Part III, book vii, chapter i, p. 219) — Aubrey Beardsley
No. 06

Praying Angels and Poppies (Border Design for Thomas Malory, "Le Morte d'Arthur," J. M. Dent 1893–94, Part III, book vii, chapter i, p. 219)

Aubrey Beardsley — 1893

Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image

View details

Praying Angels and Poppies (Border Design for Thomas Malory, "Le Morte d'Arthur," J. M. Dent 1893–94, Part III, book vii, chapter i, p. 219)

Aubrey Beardsley — 1893

28.3 × 22.2 cm · Pen and carbon black ink, brush and wash

Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image

Young Woman Surrounded by Briars, Lightning and Roses (Chapter Heading, "Le Morte d'Arthur," J. M. Dent 1893–94, Part III, book vi, chapter xvii, p. 215 and Part VII, book x, chapter xxii, p. 500) — Aubrey Beardsley
No. 07

Young Woman Surrounded by Briars, Lightning and Roses (Chapter Heading, "Le Morte d'Arthur," J. M. Dent 1893–94, Part III, book vi, chapter xvii, p. 215 and Part VII, book x, chapter xxii, p. 500)

Aubrey Beardsley — 1893

Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image

View details

Young Woman Surrounded by Briars, Lightning and Roses (Chapter Heading, "Le Morte d'Arthur," J. M. Dent 1893–94, Part III, book vi, chapter xvii, p. 215 and Part VII, book x, chapter xxii, p. 500)

Aubrey Beardsley — 1893

11.5 × 8.3 cm · Pen and carbon black ink, brush and wash, over graphite

Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image

The Black Cat, for Edgar Allan Poe’s “Tales of Mystery and the Imagination,” Chicago, 1895–96 — Aubrey Beardsley
No. 08

The Black Cat, for Edgar Allan Poe’s “Tales of Mystery and the Imagination,” Chicago, 1895–96

Aubrey Beardsley — 1894

Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image

View details

The Black Cat, for Edgar Allan Poe’s “Tales of Mystery and the Imagination,” Chicago, 1895–96

Aubrey Beardsley — 1894

25.4 × 16.2 cm · Pen, brush and India ink over graphite

Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image

The Murders in the Rue Morgue, for Edgar Allan Poe’s “Tales of Mystery and the Imagination,” Chicago, 1895–96 — Aubrey Beardsley
No. 09

The Murders in the Rue Morgue, for Edgar Allan Poe’s “Tales of Mystery and the Imagination,” Chicago, 1895–96

Aubrey Beardsley — 1894

Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image

View details

The Murders in the Rue Morgue, for Edgar Allan Poe’s “Tales of Mystery and the Imagination,” Chicago, 1895–96

Aubrey Beardsley — 1894

25.4 × 16 cm · Pen, brush and India ink over graphite

Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image

The Fall of the House of Usher, for Edgar Allan Poe’s “Tales of Mystery and the Imagination,” Chicago, 1895–96 — Aubrey Beardsley
No. 10

The Fall of the House of Usher, for Edgar Allan Poe’s “Tales of Mystery and the Imagination,” Chicago, 1895–96

Aubrey Beardsley — 1894

Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image

View details

The Fall of the House of Usher, for Edgar Allan Poe’s “Tales of Mystery and the Imagination,” Chicago, 1895–96

Aubrey Beardsley — 1894

25.4 × 16.2 cm · Pen, brush and India ink over graphite

Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image

The Masque of the Red Death, for Edgar Allan Poe’s “Tales of Mystery and the Imagination,” Chicago, 1895–96 — Aubrey Beardsley
No. 11

The Masque of the Red Death, for Edgar Allan Poe’s “Tales of Mystery and the Imagination,” Chicago, 1895–96

Aubrey Beardsley — 1894

Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image

View details

The Masque of the Red Death, for Edgar Allan Poe’s “Tales of Mystery and the Imagination,” Chicago, 1895–96

Aubrey Beardsley — 1894

25.4 × 16.2 cm · Pen and black ink, brush and India ink over graphite

Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image

Madame Réjane — Aubrey Beardsley
No. 12

Madame Réjane

Aubrey Beardsley — 1894

Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image

View details

Madame Réjane

Aubrey Beardsley — 1894

35.6 × 23 cm · Pen and carbon black ink, brush and carbon black wash

Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image

Long-haired Woman in Front of Tall Rosebushes (Chapter Heading, "Le Morte d'Arthur," J. M. Dent, 1893–4, Part IX, book xiii, chapter viii, p. 700, and Part XII, book xxi, chapter viii, p. 972) — Aubrey Beardsley
No. 13

Long-haired Woman in Front of Tall Rosebushes (Chapter Heading, "Le Morte d'Arthur," J. M. Dent, 1893–4, Part IX, book xiii, chapter viii, p. 700, and Part XII, book xxi, chapter viii, p. 972)

Aubrey Beardsley — 1894

Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image

View details

Long-haired Woman in Front of Tall Rosebushes (Chapter Heading, "Le Morte d'Arthur," J. M. Dent, 1893–4, Part IX, book xiii, chapter viii, p. 700, and Part XII, book xxi, chapter viii, p. 972)

Aubrey Beardsley — 1894

10.7 × 8.3 cm · Pen and carbon black ink, brush and wash, over graphite

Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image

Isolde — Aubrey Beardsley
No. 14

Isolde

Aubrey Beardsley — 1895

Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image

View details

Isolde

Aubrey Beardsley — 1895

This print depicts Isolde, the female protagonist of a medieval romance centered on an adulterous love triangle. Aubrey Beardsley frequently drew from literature in his artwork, whether as illustrations or independent works of art. He became immensely popular during the 1890s, when this work was made, for his characteristically stark, sinuous, and linear style. Although Beardsley's images often accompanied text in books, this print was published by the popular British art journal The Studio as a bonus for its readers.

22.8 × 14.2 cm · color lithograph

Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image

Poster for The Yellow Book, Volume IV — Aubrey Beardsley
No. 15

Poster for The Yellow Book, Volume IV

Aubrey Beardsley — 1895

Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image

View details

Poster for The Yellow Book, Volume IV

Aubrey Beardsley — 1895

37.6 × 27.7 cm · Lithograph and relief process

Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art · CC0 · Source image

An exhibition Xibit360 made from public-domain works. It is not affiliated with the artist or with the collections credited.

Credits

About the artist

Aubrey Beardsley (1872–1898) was an English illustrator whose black-and-white drawings defined the decadent 1890s. Largely self-taught, he became famous at twenty with his illustrations for Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur and, in 1894, for Oscar Wilde's Salome. As art editor of The Yellow Book he shaped the look of a new kind of magazine. His line — sinuous, precise and often wickedly erotic — and his daring use of flat black and empty white drew on Japanese prints and Greek vase painting, and influenced Art Nouveau across Europe. He died of tuberculosis at twenty-five.

Portrait: Frederick Hollyer, 1893 · Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons