THE BLACK CAT

Cult Art

Fine Art Giclée Print

Co-created & Published by PINEAPPLE GALLERY

Original works: Aubery Beardsley 1894

40cm x 73cm

Beardsley was a caricaturist and did some political cartoons, mirroring Wilde’s irreverent wit in art.

Beardsley’s work reflected the decadence of his era and his influence was enormous, clearly visible in the work of the French Symbolists and the Poster art Movement of the 1890s.  

In 1892, Beardsley travelled to Paris, where he discovered the poster art of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and the Parisian fashion for Japanese prints, both of which would be major influences on his own style. Beardsley’s first commission was Le Morte d’Arthur by Thomas Malory (1893), which he illustrated for the publishing house J. M. Dent and Company.

His six years of major creative output can be divided into several periods, identified by the form of his signature. In the early period his work is mostly unsigned. During 1891 and 1892 he progressed to using his initials, A.V.B. In mid-1892, the period of Le Morte d’Arthur and The Bon Mots he used a Japanese-influenced mark which became progressively more graceful, sometimes accompanied by A.B. in block capitals.

Beardsley’s work continued to cause controversy in Britain long after his death. During an exhibition of Beardsley’s prints held at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in 1966, a private gallery in London was raided by the police for exhibiting copies of the same prints on display at the museum, and the owner charged under obscenity laws. 

Although Beardsley was associated with the homosexual clique that included Oscar Wilde and other English aesthetes, the details of his sexuality remain in question. Beardsley is also featured on the cover of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. 

This fine art print is available in small, medium and large. Either framed or unframed and is printed on Canson Archival Paper using 12 colour ultrachrome inks. It can be shipped globally.