"The Peacock Skirt," Aubrey Beardsley, 1893.
Beardsley (1872-98) died very young, but has achieved immortality through his work. Few artists his age had such a lasting impact and become so iconic and recognizable.
He was synonymous with Art Nouveau, the Aesthetic movement, and the Decadents, none of whom were considered quite proper at the time. Beardsley's work could be quite naughty and openly mocked the sexual mores of the time, and he also frequently did caricatures of public figures and just plain weird and grotesque imagery, all of which contributed to the controversy surrounding him. Even today some find his work off-putting and tasteless.
He was heavily influenced by Japanese prints (as were the Impressionists and may others of the era) and did his best work in a plain, black-and-white format. This image, an illustration from Oscar Wilde's play "Salome," shows the Japanese influence. While the picture is not naughty in and of itself, the play was regarded as impossibly perverse; the twisted, evil expressions on the characters' faces bear that out. The play is also the source of the idea that Salome was in love with John the Baptist, an idea now popular that is actually not Biblical.
From the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
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