# Aubrey Vincent Beardsley artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/aubrey-vincent-beardsley/
Profile generated: 2026-08-19T18:30:59.582Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1872-08-21
- Death date: 1898-03-16
- Nationality: English, British
- Movements: Aestheticism, Art Nouveau
- Common media: Black-ink drawing, Book and periodical illustration, Cover and graphic design

## Portrait

![Aubrey Vincent Beardsley](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/45/Aubrey_Beardsley_ca._1895.jpg/1280px-Aubrey_Beardsley_ca._1895.jpg)
Frederick H. Evans · Public domain
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aubrey_Beardsley_ca._1895.jpg

## About Aubrey Vincent Beardsley

Aubrey Vincent Beardsley (1872–1898) was an English illustrator and writer whose highly distinctive graphic work became closely associated with Aestheticism and Art Nouveau. Working largely through drawing, book illustration, and periodical design, he combined delicate, sinuous lines with broad areas of black and stark white space. Japanese prints were among his influences, but his theatrical compositions, grotesque humor, and provocative literary imagery formed a recognizable visual language of his own. Beardsley first gained wide attention through his illustrations for Malory's Morte d'Arthur in 1893–1894. His designs for Oscar Wilde's Salome and his role as art editor of The Yellow Book made him a prominent, sometimes controversial figure in 1890s British culture. He later contributed to The Savoy. Although tuberculosis ended his career at twenty-five, his substantial output left collectors with original drawings, publication designs, illustrated books, and later impressions or reproductions requiring careful identification.

## Common works and media

Collectors may encounter Beardsley through black-ink drawings, book and periodical illustrations, cover designs, illustrated volumes, prints, and later reproductions. Recurring literary associations include Malory's Morte d'Arthur, Oscar Wilde's Salome, The Yellow Book, and The Savoy. His imagery often uses elegant contours, concentrated black forms, ornamental pattern, theatrical figures, and grotesque or erotic themes. Because a published image may exist as an original drawing, a lifetime printed page, a later edition, or a modern reproduction, identifying the production method, paper, publication, and edition is essential.

## Market and appraisal context

Beardsley's market includes objects that can differ greatly in status: original drawings, lifetime illustrations and publication material, later prints, illustrated books, and reproductions. Appraisal should therefore begin by establishing medium, date, dimensions, publication relationship, edition information, and attribution. Condition is especially relevant for works on paper and books, including staining, fading, trimming, repairs, missing leaves, or altered bindings. Provenance, signatures or inscriptions, exhibition history, and catalogue references can strengthen identification. Comparable auction results are most useful when they involve the same object type, subject, period, size, and condition. Public records are only a starting point because private transactions, incomplete feeds, changing attributions, and inconsistent reporting of auction fees can affect comparisons.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine public artist-identity research with matched auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. Market observations should be checked against object type, attribution, provenance, edition, and condition.

## Sources

- Art UK: https://artuk.org/discover/artists/beardsley-aubrey-18721898
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q272566
- IdRef: https://www.idref.fr/026711702
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500032068
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/88739636/
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/413
- Tate: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/aubrey-beardsley-716
- British Museum: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG18825
- National Gallery of Art: https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.2364.html
- Appraisily: https://appraisily.com/artist/aubrey-vincent-beardsley/