Aubrey Beardsley

1872–1898

Aubrey Beardsley, ‘The Fat Woman’ 1894 — The Fat Woman 1894
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In Tate Britain

Walk Through British Art: 1890

Free entry

In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Rooms

View by Appointment

Biography

Aubrey Vincent Beardsley (21 August 1872 – 16 March 1898) was an English illustrator and author. His drawings in black ink, influenced by the style of Japanese woodcuts, emphasized the grotesque, the decadent, and the erotic. He was a leading figure in the Aesthetic movement which also included Oscar Wilde and James A. McNeill Whistler. Beardsley's contribution to the development of the Art Nouveau and poster styles was significant, despite the brevity of his career before his early death from tuberculosis.

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Artworks

Aubrey Beardsley, ‘The Fat Woman’ 1894

Aubrey Beardsley The Fat Woman

1894

N04609

Aubrey Beardsley, ‘Cover Design for the ‘Yellow Book’’ 1894

Aubrey Beardsley Cover Design for the ‘Yellow Book’

1894

N04171

Aubrey Beardsley, ‘Messalina and her Companion’ 1895

Aubrey Beardsley Messalina and her Companion

1895

N04423

Aubrey Beardsley, ‘La Dame aux Camelias’ 1894

Aubrey Beardsley La Dame aux Camelias

1894

N04608

Aubrey Beardsley, ‘Design for the Frontispiece to John Davidson’s Plays’ 1894

Aubrey Beardsley Design for the Frontispiece to John Davidson’s Plays

1894

N04172

Aubrey Beardsley, ‘Caprice. Verso: Masked Woman with a White Mouse’ c.1894

Aubrey Beardsley Caprice. Verso: Masked Woman with a White Mouse

c.1894

On display at Tate Britain part of Walk Through British Art N03815

Aubrey Beardsley, ‘Frontispiece to Chopin’s Third Ballade’ 1895

Aubrey Beardsley Frontispiece to Chopin’s Third Ballade

1895

View by appointment T07487

Aubrey Beardsley, ‘Professor Fred Brown’ 1892

Aubrey Beardsley Professor Fred Brown

1892

N04235

Artist as subject

Walter Richard Sickert, ‘Aubrey Beardsley’ 1894

Walter Richard Sickert Aubrey Beardsley

1894

N04655

Anita Bartle, Grant Richards (London, UK), ‘This is my Birthday’ 1902

Anita Bartle, Grant Richards (London, UK) This is my Birthday

1902

TGA 969/2/4

Prunella Clough, ‘Diary’ 18 November 1944–27 February 1947

Prunella Clough Diary

18 November 1944–27 February 1947

View by appointment TGA 201215/1/1

Ithell Colquhoun, ‘Part of a typescript for an essay entitled: ‘Recollection of Kurt Schwitters’ by Ithell Colquhoun’ 1969

Ithell Colquhoun Part of a typescript for an essay entitled: ‘Recollection of Kurt Schwitters’ by Ithell Colquhoun

1969

TGA 929/2/1/55/3

Features

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, ‘The Two Friends’ 1894

Art Term

Fin de Siècle

Fin de Siècle is a French phrase meaning 'end of century' and is applied specifically as a historical term to ...

Aubrey Beardsley, ‘Design for the Frontispiece to John Davidson’s Plays’ 1894

Art Term

Art nouveau

Art nouveau is an international style in architecture and design that emerged in the 1890s and is characterised by sinuous ...

Aubrey Beardsley, ‘Messalina and her Companion’ 1895

Art Term

Decadence

Decadence generally refers to an extreme manifestation of symbolism which appeared towards the end of the nineteenth century and emphasised ...

Press Release

British Comic Art

17 Sep 2009

British Comic Art: Press related to past exhibition.

Walter Richard Sickert, ‘Brighton Pierrots’ 1915

Tate Papers

'Poor abraded butterflies of the stage': Sickert and the Brighton Pierrots

Sickert's interest in popular entertainment extended beyond the London music-hall and his 1915 painting Brighton Pierrots depicts a troupe ...

Portrait by Antonis Mor, of Sir Henry Lee 1568

Tate Etc

Prisoners of love: Early bondage

English visual art contains a wealth of bondage imagery, particularly from Aubrey Beardsley, the master of the whiplash line. James ...

Related art terms

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