New-York tribune., 1900-12-15
aUBREY BEARDSLEY.
A COLLECTION OF HIS LATER DRAW
INGs.
TIE LATER WORK OF AUBREY BEARDsLEh
Quarto pp. Ia. John Lane

THE LATER WORK OF AUBREY BEARDsLEf'
Quarto, pp. lss. John Lane
p.,bans the most amazing thing about that
very amazing young draughtsmsn' the la1e
aubrey Beardsley was his fecundity. he was
scsrcelv more than a youth when he died Yet
he left behind MN so much work that one OF
t,ss editors Mr. II C Narriller could make
stout volume out Of his earlier drawings ana
now Mr.. Lane is able 10 build up almost as thick
a hook ont OF reproductions of the drawings tha'
came after Some productions dating from the
nrst stages OF Beardsleys career are inciuoeu
IA this second collection, ii is true but the oulA
Of the latter represents the ideas ana me'hous
~ his maturity II he was fecund. he was also
versatile or AT all events made excursions IN
more than one direction far as his mental
s,-nnnathies were concerned. The frontispiece
to this volume is a reproduction OF one OF the
designs ne made 10 illustrate "Mademoisehe oe
Maupin" IT expresses in every toueh Inv
strange artificial and unhealthy spirit OF ""u
tiers book But we have scarcely oesu" -
turn these pages when we come upon Two vi
cular panels. "Adoramus Te," and "A christ
mas Carol which not only show feeling TOT
the exquisite style Of Botticeli' with lts purity
and refined grace, but disclose also a houe u
sonoe+bine IKE genuine spirituality. There Is d
rift within the lutte. There is just enough OF lne
tang of morbidity in these neo-Italian tohui
a make rs wonder whether Beardsley couio
ever have done high minded ana sahels Deou
,iful work with perfect sincerity ana sdehs'"'
Vet. although we feel dubious about H. com
ing 10 an almost certain conclusion tha' ms
ter,neraraent would always have come pe'"eeh
him and achievements OF the sort we ha'e :.
mind il is impossible not 10 regret tii~' N
NOT at least make the effort
II might perhaps have saved him iroIh 1he q
o,,,tion of designs which We may admire LOT
,tsr technical briliancy. but the spirit OF whlch
me can only deplore Sometimes his morDiui'!
5ia no more than limit his vision. Wheh ne
illustrated Sir Thomas Mallory he missed ms
authors charm, but he did nothing posllNe's
offensive The fun page plates here reprouu0eu
NAV have been grotesque as aeeompahlinehts u
the texr but they were not gross ana IN the
boYders drawn for the "Morte Darthur bearos-
ley did some really delightful work Ihe liiihss
however which are most conspicuous In TINS
,,olurne show a repulsive quality Of mind. He
strayed into fairyland. making pictures OF Fler-
rot: he illustrated poem as harmless as Ihe
Rape Of the Lock: he made cover designs anu
even religious pictures, which would seem IN
themselves 10 exclude the meretricious motives
which had taken hold of his imagination But
tnose motives would not down, and in practlcally
everything of his short and sick closing years he
seems somehow TO have given overwhelming
weight 10 a strain Of almost diseased emotoh-
He chose his subjects from innocent sources
and gave them a Mephistophelian twist. he lei
his thoughts play about Lucisn, Nine. Du Barry
Juvenal, Arstophanes and the more sensuous
sides OF Wagner's operas, and gave US draw
inrs not merely earthy-as would have been no
doubt legitimate-but 'macabre" TO point cal
culated TO make US shudder. His vagrant IN
ventions designs for book plates or satirical
n. ,rarfra TDonn nf
volume were even worse. Ordinarily such art
as his would be dismissed with nothing more
than an expression of reprobation We are
sorry that he did some OF the drawings that
are reproduced in this volume. But there are
others, like The Coifing,' which we are glad
to have: and taken from first 10 last a record
Of an exceptional individuality in modern Eng
Iish art this book must be in the long run
gratefully received. 1t has been handsomely
made The drawings could not have been better
reproduced or printed than they in this
volume