Aubrey Beardsley: Symbol, Mask and Self-Irony

by Milly Heyd

The significance of Aubrey Beardsley's illustrations and their modernity lies in the discord between ornamental elegance ( surface ) and their inner human content ( symbol ). Pierrot, the embryo-dwarf, the hermaphrodite, the image of the woman, Pan are symbols through which the artist reveals himself. And yet, simultaneously, the meaning of the symbol is neutralized by the use of irony which serves as a mechanism of self-defence. Though much of Beardsley's...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 082040277X
• ISBN13: 9780820402772
• Release Date: December 1986
• Publisher: Peter Lang Inc., International Academic Publi
• Length: 250 Pages