114 years ago to the day - the death of Aubrey Beardsley

The 16th of March marks the death, 114 years ago, of the brilliantly original Aubrey Beardsley.  During his short lifetime his artistic output was immense and his illustrations combining decedent erotica with the grotesque made him a leading figure in the Aesthetic movement and a key contributer to the development of Art Nouveau.

A contemporary of Oscar Wilde and James A. McNeill Whistler his illustrations to the Yellow Book and the Savoy made him a cult figure of the decadent movement.  Beardsley also illustrated Alexander Pope's Rape of the Lock and Oscar Wilde's Salome.  Plagued by tuberculosis throughout his short career the disease eventually took his life at the age of just 25.