John Flaxman (1755-1826) and Aubrey Beardsley (1872-1898) were two of the most influential artists England ever produced. Yet despite similar artistic personalities and a shared interest in a disciplined linear style of drawing, their lives and works never before have been examined together. This study focuses on these issues and clearly demonstrates that Flaxman's engravings are an important new source for Beardsley's art. This book is also a major contribution towards a reappraisal of the lives and works of both artists.
"The astonishing parallels between Flaxman and Beardsley, the one long dead before the other was born, are here examined in depth for the first time. The illness and suffering that connects the one to the other produces in both strikingly similar manifestations of religious mysticism and artistic expression. The reader witnesses the unfolding of a fascinating series of patterns, revealed always with clarity and often with grace." (Robert Enggass)
"In a refreshingly original approach, Dr. Bell has fused the lives and art of two British artists who lived a century apart. What emerges is a fascinating dialogue between two masters whose linear grace and purity often conceal strange psychological depths." (Robert Rosenblum, New York University)
"In a refreshingly original approach, Dr. Bell has fused the lives and art of two British artists who lived a century apart. What emerges is a fascinating dialogue between two masters whose linear grace and purity often conceal strange psychological depths." (Robert Rosenblum, New York University)