Salome: A Tragedy in One Act

Artist Aubrey Vincent Beardsley (British, 1872 - 1898)

Publisher John Lane, The Bodley Head, London; John Lane Company, New York, 1907

Author Robert Baldwin Ross (British, 1869-1918)

Date1907

DimensionsBook: H: 8 11/16 in. (220 mm); W: 7 in. (178 mm); Depth: 9/16 in. (14 mm).
Page (partially trimmed): H: 8 7/16 in. (215 mm); W: 6 3/4 in. (171 mm).

MediumReproductions: 1 photolithograph of a drawing and 15 line block reproductions of ink drawings on ivory wove paper (incl. 12 full-page illustrations, 1 tailpiece vignette, 2 illustrated borders, and a reproduction of Beardsley’s original drawing for the binding design. Text: letterpress on cream laid paper

ClassificationBooks

Credit LineGift of Molly and Walter Bareiss

Object number

1984.251

Not on View

Label TextWith his intricate black and white style, Aubrey Beardsley put his distinctive mark on illustration in the 1890s. He was associated with the Aesthetic movement in England, spearheaded by Oscar Wilde, which stressed the artificial over the real and the unusual over the commonplace. Beardsley often paid particular attention to women’s fashion in his images. He imagined exotic and dramatic “Aesthetic” creations for his illustrations to Oscar Wilde’s controversial play Salomé, based on the biblical tale of the alluring dancer whose charms convince King Herod to behead John the Baptist. In The Peacock Skirt Salomé’s dress becomes an almost abstract shape with no indication of her body beneath it. The flowing lines and peacock motif relate to Aesthetic dress, which advocated looser, less restrictive women’s clothes modeled on Medieval and Renaissance styles. Though Aesthetic dress never caught on with the wider public, many in artistic and literary circles adopted it.Published Referencescf. Castleman, Riva, A Century of Artists Books, New York, 1994, p. 104

cf. Garvey, Eleanor M., The Artist & the Book, 1860--1960, Boston, 1961, no. 17.

Exhibition HistoryToledo Museum of Art, The Artist and the Printer, 1994--1995 (no cat.)

Toledo Museum of Art, Embracing the Page, Feb. 14-May 19, 2002.