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Beardsley's Illustrations for Le Morte D'Arthur

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This is a remarkable work. First, it is Beardsley's earliest commission, illustrations for Malory's classic. For that reason alone, it will interest fans of Beardsley's drawings.

Second, and what really fascinates me, is that Beardsley developed his drawing style visibly over the course of the 580+ works in this project. When I look at the drawings for the first few chapters, they seem harsh and angular (p.22 for example). In other samples (e.g. p.18-19), Beardsley uses textures to generate tonal effects. By the end of the book, his drawings are much closer to his more familiar style. The lines are more graceful, and there is less use of the middle tones - broad solid blacks and whites dominate.

This is certainly a book for the Beardsley fan. It is also a distinctive example for anyone unsure of what "an artist's development" refers to.

Just a small warning, though - this contains only fragments of the Malory text, and many of the drawings do not appear with the printing that defined their original context. This is about Beardsley's drawings, not about the book in which they appeared.

//wiredweird