Merlin. Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
Merlin and Nimue. Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
Merlin Taketh the child Arthur into his keeping. Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
How Morgan LeFey Gave a shield to Sir Tristram. Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
How Queen Guenever made her a nun. Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
How Sir Palomides Made Great Sorrow and Mourning for La Beale Isoud. Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
How Sir Palomides Made Great Sorrow and Mourning for La Beale Isoud. Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
How La Beale Isoud wrote to Sir Tristam. Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
How King Marke found Sir Tristam. Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
How La Beale Isoud nursed Sir Tristam. Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
Plus, a bit of bonus music today because this is the song that introduced me to Beardsley, way back in (gulp) 1977. That was in the pre-internet world, and it wasn’t easy to find Beardsley prints. Our local library didn’t carry anything, and neither did our only book store. I finally found a book at UWO with a compilation of his work. I think it was simply called Aubrey Beardsley, and it was a thrilling discovery.
Today’s Beardsley has a bevy of beauties with bountiful bosoms plus a quadrangle of quiet, contemplative Queens.
How A Devil In A Woman’s Likeness Would Have Tempted Sir Bors. Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
How four Queens found Launcelot sleeping. Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
I love the way Beardsley draws armour. It’s so highly decorative with all sorts of complicated and intricate patterns and a feminine cut and drape. His chainmail hangs like silk, and the overall effect is one of weightless beauty.
Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
Most of the artwork for Le Morte Darthur is set outdoors, and Beardsley places his characters into stylized high-contrast landscapes filled with heavy repetitive curving lines and shapes. The artist uses a leaf motif plus a multiplicity of trees as repetitive elements that create a strong sense of place and link the illustrations into a cohesive set.
Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
A few solitary, enigmatic characters for today.
Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
Let there be music and creatures with wings.
Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
A few of the smaller, deceptively simple figure studies today. I love the way Beardsley captures so much complexity using high-contrast, geometric lines. It’s hard to believe that he was only 19 when he began work on this book.
Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
Today I’m sharing a few of the smaller portraits from the book. The last illustration is one of my favourites. Beardsley uses negative space brilliantly, and his simple line drawings create compellingly complex faces.
Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
Artwork via: Enchanted Booklet
Many of the figures in Beardsley’s work are androgenous, and as you can imagine, this created quite a stir during the Victorian times in which they were published. Despite the controversy, or perhaps because of it, Beardsley’s work was well-considered in art circles and the book sold moderately well. Over the next few days, I’ll be posting some of the more well-known figures in the book, but I wanted to introduce a few select examples today as a signpost to the overarching theme of androgyny.
Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
Artwork via: Enchanted Booklet
Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur. Dent and Sons, 1927.
Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur. Dent and Sons, 1927.
Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur. Dent and Sons, 1927.
Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur. Dent and Sons, 1927.
Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. LeMorte Darthur. Dent and Sons, 1927.
Artwork via: Enchanted Booklet