It’s always interesting to see who and what has directly influenced an artist and it was enlightening to find more out in this exhibition.
Contemporary artists instrumental in Beardsley’s development included Edward Burne-Jones and JM Whistler.
Japanese woodblock prints exerted a huge influence on many artists in terms of format as well as style – see below.
Musically he admired Wagner, Weber and Chopin, the latter two tuberculosis sufferers like him who also died young.
Gustave Doré, whose magnificent watercolour The Apparition depicting Salomé’s dance so impressed Oscar Wilde, embodies the symbolism & decadence of the tale.
This portrait of Mantegna, another of his artistic heroes, was published by Beardsley under a fictional name and admired by critics who normally disdained his work.
