I chose Aubrey Beardsley as my featured artist for this week. His style of illustration is one which has certainly caught my eye in the past, however until recently I didn't know his name. Beardsley's illustrations were greatly influential in the Art Nouveau period. His precise line work accentuates the main points of interest in each composition. Alternating between ornate detail and sparse minimalism, Beardsley's lines are essentially used to emphasize form. There is a kind of quality in his work which captures the romanticism of England in the late 1800s. For this reason, his work is wonderfully suited to accompany the writings of Oscar Wilde. I am personally a big Oscar Wilde fan, and so when I saw these great illustrations that went hand-in-hand with his writing style, I was instantly a fan of his work. The images I chose to show here demonstrate Beardsley's humor as well as his technical ability. The image on the left hints at comic-book styles and even surrealism. A link to more of his work is below. There's no official website or anything since he's from the 19th century but just Google image it if you're interested... its great stuff, I love it...
http://www.loyno.edu/~history/journal/1992-3/smith-e.htm
The simple use of just black and white holds up so well in both of these. Also the varying line weight really adds depth to both.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first glanced at the first image, I thought, oh, that's pretty. And then taking a closer look I saw what was actually happening. Haha, awesome.
ReplyDeleteThe second picture seems ordinary and plain. The first illustration caught my attention mainly because that girl in the corner is farting on something...
ReplyDeleteArt Nouveau is one of my favorite art periods. I'm in History of Communications and Aubrey Beardsley was someone we go to go in depth on. His work is awesome and works so well with Oscar Wilde's work.
ReplyDeleteThe first image is funny, lol. But I also like the second one. Good stuff.
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