We've been ripping off his work for the past week, so it's only fitting that we start with Aubrey Beardsley
.
Which board shall I raid next?
Beardsley was born in 1872 in the English sea-side town of Brighton (or Soddom-on-Sea). Though he was only 25 when he died (of tuberculosis), his work had a lasting impact on the Art Nouveau movement and on graphic art to this day. Jimmy Wales describes his work as "influenced by the style of Japanese woodcuts, emphasizing the grotesque, the decadent, and the erotic." which is about as good a description of <a certain image board> as you could hope to coin.
The Toilet of Lampito - now we've used all his Lysistrata prints. C-C-C-COMBO.
The great tragedy of Beardsley's life wasn't his early death. Neither was it his persecution for his personal life (he was in Oscar Wilde's circle and no doubt vice versa). It wasn't even the fact that he died 100 years before the internet. The real tragedy is that he didn't have access to Photoshop (or GIMP).
We can only imagine what he might have accomplished if he could knock out a meme template in ten minutes rather than scratching away with pen and ink for days.
If you want to know what Beardsley may have sounded like, click on the link and listen to "If You're Anxious To Shine" from Patience by Gilbert and Sullivan. In an choice example of life imitating art, Wilde modeled his public persona on the character "Bunthorne" - a high-camp member of the Aesthetic movement.
P.S. If you're over 18 and confident in your sexuality, you can see the originals of Beardsley's illustrations for Aristophanes' play "Lysistrata" here.
hmm, i wonder what he could have done if he did have photoshop.
ReplyDeleteWow, that actually made me sad.
ReplyDeletein b4 404
ReplyDeleteI need to try the gif thingy!
ReplyDeletehis stuff would sell like hot cakes at hot topic.
ReplyDeleteI salute ye', Aubrey
ReplyDeleteparticipate in poetry day!
ReplyDeleteso hes the one where you get your pics from? awesome.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, though, it's almost scary to imagine what past artists could pull off with photoshop.
ReplyDeleteInteresting stuff, haha.
ReplyDeleteFollowing :]
I checked the link to his original works. I still don't know how I feel about those drawings.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever wondered how many people in history would be like if they lived their lives in the modern world?
ReplyDeleteImagine how hard it would be for someone like Beethoven to be famous in our time.
nice...
ReplyDeleteAn early death is such a blessing.
ReplyDeleteyeah they say....shine twice as bright half the time........
ReplyDeleteGreat post. Good stuff...he'd been great living in this era.
ReplyDeleteSucio knows about poetry, Apocalypse must be around the corner
ReplyDeleteThe Lysistrata prints use such strange drawing styles to character humans.
ReplyDeleteNice pics. Good post. :)
ReplyDeletehahahah, buff your muff with our stuff. i need to remember that, for use in conversation :)
ReplyDeletehihiihihihihi
ReplyDeleteThere are some artists that simply exist to push buttons.
ReplyDeletei love poetry man :)
ReplyDeletepics are weird..
ReplyDeletesounds like Moot in a past life... the buff the muff pic had me cracking up hahah
ReplyDeletefollowin you
ReplyDeleteHe was truly born too soon.
ReplyDeleteSo these are where these pictures are coming from! They are illustrations of Aubrey Beardsley :D
ReplyDeleteThose illustrations are awesome. I love things like that and I'd never even heard of Beardsley. Thank you for enlightening me :)
ReplyDeleteImpressive, really. :) never heard of before though
ReplyDeleteinteresting !
ReplyDeletehahaha that pic is awesome
ReplyDeleteHAHA! looking forward to the rest of this series
ReplyDeleteLoving the blog; following. :)
ReplyDelete