Research On The Artistic Language Of Beardsley’s Illustration

Aubrey Beardsley(1872-1898)was a leading British artist of the 19 th century.As a representative of the British Art Nouveau movement,he often used radical expressions,grotesque,bizarre and flamboyant painting styles to reflect the negative decadence and flamboyant indifference of the society of his time,as well as the anxiety and uncertainty of the people in the social context of the late 19 th century.His work is often less utilitarian and more decorative.The use of expressive line and the vastly different black and white colour palette in his work creates a wide range of decadent,grotesque illustrations and artistic images,reflecting the darkness of the human condition and leading the viewer to seek out the connotations and symbols of the paintings through an overly elaborate and slightly contrived line,which is highly symbolic and ironic.To date,Beardsley’s artistic style and its artistic value remain controversial.However,it is undeniable that his works have given the viewer a strange aesthetic state of mind,causing them to debate and marvel,even associating him with the ’Art Nouveau’ and’avant-garde’ art.This essay provides some insights into Beardsley’s illustrative style through a study of his own upbringing,the social context of his time,and the influence of various artistic styles of his time.The thesis takes a large number of Beardsley’s artworks as the object of study,and analyses how his works formed his own style by drawing on a variety of elements through the elaboration of the decorative language,style,composition and colour characteristics of his works,and finally further investigates the contemporary significance and value of Beardsley’s art style by discussing the influence of Beardsley on Chinese illustration art.