Aubrey Beardsley In Lavender Print

I think anyone with a basic understanding of art usually hits on either Aubrey’s illustrations or found them by accident reading Salome by Oscar Wilde or early fairy tales. I read Wilde’s stories long ago and knew of Aubrey at a young age, having a well established collection of vintage fairy tales. Wilde described Aubrey’s hair as slightly green which I take to be a kind of blah blonde but looking at his sister’s portraits, I decided he may have slight auburn hair. Aubrey’s illustrations were erotic and bordering on homoerotic. Friends claimed he was straight and that may be so, but his head was definitely in a different space for the times. No inhibitions when illustrating, that’s for sure. So talented and such a tragic loss. It was like losing Richard Amsel during Victorian times. Such a unique talent.