Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-03-25
Aubrey BeardsIey,
Brooklyn standard Union,


Aubrey Beardsley who died recently
was the apostle Of eccentricity IN art
! and for that he will be remembered
! Beardsley was only "A years of age, and
| yet he died Of overworR, while other ar.
| lists Of his age, who drew better-that Is
! whose work was in closer touch with the
| established tenets of art-haye died OF
| starvation. Such is the perversity of
| fate.
| Beardsley was a widows son. and az a
! clerk in a Brighton England) shop,
| helped to support his mother. Drawing
with him was a whim, the recreation of
his idle moments. and whimsical il re-
NAMED even after culture, for he at
first had no art education. An enthusi-
astic friend thought the young fellow
showed as much genius or oddly as the
celebrated Burne-JOnes, on whom the
wits, both of the pen and the brush have
spent many a pointed shaft. So 10 Burne-
Jones he took him. That interpreter OF
the modern English school of so-called
estheticism. which Gilbert and Sullivan
have made familiar TO American eyes
and ears, encouraged the young fellow
by refusing to discourage him when he
saw the pictorial whimsicalities he pos
sessed, and wound up by advising Boards
ley TO study art, even If he starved
But he didn't starve. His first efforts
after taking lessons sold well. They
were out Of the usual line. They were
odd, whimsical, eccentric, anything you
like, and they pleased a public always
looking for some new thing They were
called crude by some; absurd by Others.
and still others pronounced them simply
examples of mechanical skill-only this.
and nothing more.
Lane, the London publisher, was capti-
waited by the young fellow. In the pic
turesque and terse phrase Of the day the
older man regarded the youngster as a
good thing, and pushed him along. And
Beardsley proved indeed a good thing for
the publisher while he lasted. The phrase
Is modern and ephemeral, and therefore
IT hts to this subject. Doubtless Mr..
Beardsley originated some novel methods
of producing certain artistic effects. and
he introduced some startling results with
apparently little labor, which some regard
as a sign OF true genius, while others will
assert that labor Is genius. He borrowed
freely from the Japanese, Anglicizing. |
however, TO some extent. The Japanese
are great decorators, but hardly to be |
ranked as illustrators
Mr.. Beardsley seems to have been q
prolific worker, and Illustrated some noted
reprints, such as Macmilan's ''Morta
ID Arthur, OF Tennyson; The Rape of
The Lock-" and Oscar Wilde's "Salome"
out the American public is more familiar
With his poster girls" I'm wonderfully
winding and singularly sinuous garments.
The curious curves Of the female form
Is interpreted by Beardsley, had a fatal
fascination for some. but his work Is
'phemeral. and, i'm its very nature nor Of
he enduring sort. few years hence
OF 1t will only be found In
repositories OF queer things and curiosj- |
les Of antiquity, and give future genera
ions some idea of the extent TO which
ccentricity was carried at the close of
he nineteenth century. Beardsley's work
,as for present gain. 1t has no claim
n future fame, and the question everv
rue lover OF art will ask is, Does thai
ort OF work really pay?"
The answer of the ages is that Il does
OF. ,