The Devil At The End Of The Century

Aubrey Beardsley was one of the most controversial practitioners in the Aesthetic trend of thought in literature and art in the 19th century. His paintings had a unique creative style and value orientation. As a aesthete rose from a aesthetic group, the practice of aesthetic trend of thought in literature and art is the theme of Beardsley's art career. Therefore, the research about the influence of aesthetic trend of thought in literature and art on Beardsley's illustration art is more significant and valuable, and aestheticism can be used as a standard for measuring the achievements of Beardsley's illustration art.This paper aims to study the influence of aesthetic trend of thought in literature and art on Beardsley's illustration art through a thorough analysis of a series of his illustration works. First of all, the origin, the main characteristics and social roots of aesthetic trend of thought in literatrue and art are introduced. Then continued from the preceding analysis, a further discussion into the artistic features of Beardsley's illustration art and the tendency of aestheticism implied in visual language form is made, combined with abundant excellent illustration works of Beardsley. After that, the cause of the tendency of aestheticism in Beardsley's illustration art is briefly analyzed. Finally, a subject which has not been systematically illustrated yet——the contradictory elements as well as the expansion of aestheticism in Beardsley's illustration art——is generally organized. This paper attempts to make some interpretation of Beardsley's illustration art from the above aspects, so as to enrich the studies on Beardsley's illustration art.