Initial Letter M (Fertility); verso: Sketch of a Candelabra 1897 - 1898

Curator: This suggestive graphite drawing by Aubrey Beardsley, titled "Initial Letter M (Fertility)," pulses with, shall we say, layered meanings. Editor: Right, my first impression is one of a certain… unease. The sheer density of detail, the figures crammed into such a small space. What paper was he even using? Curator: Its dimensions are only about 18 by 16 centimeters. Beardsley was a master of economy. His early death at just 25 makes it all the more remarkable. Editor: I'm more interested in how Beardsley used readily accessible materials to create pieces charged with so much complex and sometimes controversial symbolism. The act of drawing itself becomes a powerful statement. Curator: The eye travels between the stylized breasts of the flanking figures and the nurturing embrace of the mother and child nestled under that letter "M"—the letter is almost weaponlike. Editor: It’s true, he was working within constraints—of budget, of health—to produce works that challenge notions of beauty, fertility, even sexuality. Notions that were deeply embedded in the Victorian world he inhabited. Curator: What do you make of its legacy? It’s quite a statement on our own obsessions, isn't it? Editor: A testament, I think, to the enduring power of materials and making, when deployed with such potent imagination.