Aubrey Beardsley

Aubrey Beardsley was a British author and draftsman who quickly became one of the most controversial artists of his time. His illustrations - realized for playbills, books, and accompaniments to his own poetry - critiqued the repressive Victorian concepts of sexuality, beauty, gender roles, and consumerism. Beardsley wasn’t afraid to shock his viewers with themes of death and eroticism; that, along with his style of visually ornate scenes and delicately drawn figures, was influential towards the shift from the Aesthetic movement to the modern Art Nouveau style. Beardsley had an impressive, yet short lived career, working for a mere seven years before succumbing to tuberculosis.