Aubrey Beardsley 1894

This is a photograph of Aubrey Beardsley by Frederick H. Evans. It’s not dated, but it's likely from the 1890s, when Beardsley was at the height of his fame. The image encapsulates many of the cultural preoccupations of the fin de siècle, the "end of the century" in France, as the 19th century drew to a close. Beardsley was notorious as an illustrator associated with Oscar Wilde and the decadent movement, which challenged the strict moral codes of Victorian England. The pose is one of languid introspection, a visual shorthand for artistic genius, or perhaps world-weariness. The image suggests a rejection of the bourgeois values of hard work and respectability. As a historian, I would want to know more about the relationship between the photographer and his sitter. Were they friends? Was this a commissioned portrait, or a more informal study? These questions might be answered by looking at letters or diaries of the two men, or in contemporary accounts of the London art world. The meaning of art is always contingent on the social and institutional context in which it is made and viewed.