The Week UK - 14.03.2020

34 ARTS

THEWEEK 14 March 2020

Art

AubreyBeardsley’scareerwasa

tragicallybriefone,saidMelanie

McDonaghintheLondonEvening

Standard.Cutshortbyhisdeath

fromtuberculosisagedjust25,it

spannedameresevenyears–but

“whatacareer”itwas.Adandy

withan“impishwitandafilthy

imagination”,Beardsley(1872-98)

scandalisedVictoriansocietywith

hisstartlingblackandwhite

drawings,gainingnotorietyin

particularforhisillustrationsof

OscarWilde’splaySalomé.Taking

influencesfromadiverserangeof

sources–fromPre-Raphaelite

paintingtoJapaneseprints–he

producedmorethanathousand

drawingsof“dazzlingvariety

andoriginality”.Hisportraits,

caricaturesandillustrations

cametobeseenastheepitome

of“findesiècledecadence”.This

newshow atTateBritainisthe

first majorexhibitionofhiswork

inLondonsince 1966 ,and offers

anexcellentopportunity to

rediscoverasingulartalent.

Bringingtogethermorethan 200

drawings andprints andreamsof

archivalmaterial,itisa“splendid”

testament toBeardsley’s“genius”.

HisimagesforSaloméarestill

“startling”today,saidLauraCumminginTheObserver.

“Corpsesappear to levitate;theMoonhasabizarrefemale face;

androgynousfigures appearnakedbeneathJapanesekimonosand

trailingpeacockcloaks.”Inan

illustrationentitledTheClimax,

Saloméstaresraptlyatthesevered

headofJohntheBaptist.Mostof

hisworkhasastrongsexual

undercurrent,butTateBritainhas

reservedasideroomforthemost

obsceneprints,a“neverlandof

fauns,satyrsandandrogynous

beauties”,of“fleshydandies”,

“masturbatingmatrons”and

youngmenwith“colossal

members”.Hissexuallycharged

imagescouldnotbefurtherfrom

ourexpectationsofVictorianart,

saidRosemaryWaughinTime

Out.Butmanyofhisexplicit

pictures–notablyoneofa

“womanhavingapowderpuff

poppedbetweenherbumcheeks”

–seemembarrassingly“teenage”.

Beardsleycouldwellbeaccusedof

havinga“puerile sensibility”,said

AlastairSookeinTheDaily

Telegraph.Buthis“flowinggraphic

style–aharbinger,withits graceful

arabesques,of art nouveau–was

always supremelyrefined”.There’s

alsoanunexpected poignancy:

diagnosedwithtuberculosisat the

ageof seven,Beardsleywaswell

aware thediseasewouldtakehim

young.Inone 1894 self-portrait,

he goessofaras todepicthimselflyinginbed,“atiny,vulnerable

figureinapolka-dotted turban”. Thisexhibition hasits

wea knesses,but oftenenough itis“drop-dead gorgeous”.

Exhibition of the week Aubrey Beardsley

Tate Britain, London SW1 (020-7887 8888, tate.org.uk). Until 25 May

If Aubrey Beardsley’s illustrations

canbeseen as thestartingpointfor

20thcentury Britishgraphicart, this

exhibitionofdrawings by William

Heath Robinson(1872-1944) and

Ronald Searle(1920-2011) gives an

idea ofwhat came next. Whiletheir

workeschewedBeardsley’s decadence,

bothartistswere,intheir way,similarly

eccentric.However familiarthey might

be,Heath Robinson’s oddballvisions

of pointlesslycomplicatedmachinery

neverfail to raiseasmile:one of the

mostfun here isafarcicalwartime plot

for infecting HermannGöring with flu

germs.Searle, however, emerges as the

real genius, his expressive,borderline

manicstyle andknack forvisual

punchlines anticipatingthe likes of

Ralph Steadman andGerald Scarfe.

Highlights include illustrationsfromthe

deathlessMolesworth series; portraits

of actorsincluding AlecGuinness and

Anthony Quayleand, best ofall, a

caricatureof ahopelessly lost French

touristinLondon. Pricesrange from

£450to£14,500.

8&10Ryder Street,LondonSW1

(020-7839 7551). Until21 March.

Where to buy...

The Week reviews an

exhibition inaprivate gallery

The Twentieth

Century

at Chris Beetles Gallery

Searle’s Welcome Back Molesworth!

Britain’s

industrial

heritageis

underthreat,

saysJamie

DowardinThe

Observer.Griff

RhysJones,

president of

The Victorian

Society, has

called on

councils to do more to protect derelict 19th

century factories amidasurge in vandalism,

triggered in part byanew fashion for exploring

abandoned buildings. Last month, Shotton

steelworks in north Wales (above)–one of

the Society’s ten most endangered buildings

in 2018–was found to have been badly

vandalised, and several rooms destroyed by

fire. The Tolly Cobbold brewery in Ipswich

sufferedamajor fire last month. And last year,

the Fisons factory in Bramford, described as

“an irreplaceable part of Suffolk’s heritage”

by the Society, was burned down. Vandalised

buildings have often lain empty for years while

owners try to develop them. “They need

maintenance,” said Rhys Jones. “They need

alarms and lighting. Most of all they need help

to b ebrought backintothe community quickly.”

Save our disused factories

©TATE

TheClimax(1893):partofBeardsley’s“startling”Saloméseries