ABSTRACT
The French enthusiasm in the early 1890s for the detailed literary paintings of the Pre-Raphaelites was in stark contrast with the subsequent scathing treatment of contemporary English landscape art, which was regarded with disdain and pitied for its dull, mechanical processes. Aubrey Beardsley’s black and white illustrations gradually moved away from the influence of the more established Pre-Raphaelite artist, and began to reflect the influence of a myriad of art traditions, including Japanese prints, Greek vase painting and French poster art. The French critics were justified in tracing Beardsley’s style back to the Preraphaelites. In his early twenties Beardsley had idolized Burne-Jones, and Robert Ross commented that Burne-Jones was the influence Tasting longer than any other’. In the words of the historian Leonce Benedite, the work of the Pre-Raphaelites represented ‘un des episodes les plus interessants de l’histoire des arts contemporains’.
