Aubrey the Great



The Peacock Skirt, 1884

Aubrey Beardsley is one of my favorite artists and I particualrly admire his series of illustrations for Oscar Wilde's Salome. Elongated, curved lines seem to be a running theme for me in terms of aesthetics which Beardsley perfectly captures for me in this particular collection, along with his penchant for dots.

I like to think that Beardsley and I are artistic kindred spirits as my tattoo of curved lines and dots was inked onto my ankle years before I'd ever heard of Beardsley. Alas, I wish I had waited a few more years as the tattoo turned out to be pitiful and I feel that with Beardsley to inspire me it could have been something quite beautiful.

I think Beardsley is sometimes overlooked as an artist but I'd have his illustrations hanging on my wall over other artists any day. Perhaps I should just have Salome's Peacock Skirt tattoo'd across my back and be done with it!