The Covid Diaries 9: Tate Britain, Aubrey Beardsley

Review of the exhibition Aubrey Beardsley at Tate Britain. In which I struggled once more with social distancing, but at least there were more mask-wearers here than at Tate Modern.

Aubrey Beardsley at Tate Britain

I’m sure you remember my review of Andy Warhol at Tate Modern: exhibition fine, organisation shambolic. Well, a few days after visiting Tate Modern I had tickets to Tate Britain to review their Aubrey Beardsley exhibition. I spent a lot longer in this exhibition than the 30 or so minutes I spent racing through Andy Warhol. Overall, however, the measures and processes were just as insufficient. The difference I think was in the self-selecting visitors. But more on that shortly.

Aubrey Beardsley is very much associated with the decadence in art, literature and their associated circles in the late 19th Century. His career was brief but prolific. Diagnosed with tuberculosis at the age of seven, he knew his life would be a short one. This knowledge permeates his prodigious output as he attempted to leave his artistic mark before dying aged 25. The images most familiar to me were from his illustrations for Oscar Wilde’s Salome. This collaboration greatly increased Beardsley’s fame/infamy, but later caused him professional difficulties when Wilde’s downfall cast a shadow on Beardsley as well.

Thoughts on Curation

The exhibition was both chronological and grouped largely by projects Beardsley worked on; Le Morte D’Arthur which allowed him to quit his dayjob, Salome, posters, The Yellow Book and The Studio. Other rooms explore his circle, and his influence on subsequent generations of artists. Finally there are his sexually explicit illustrations for the Lysistrata and other works (ooh!).

Something interesting that I noticed was that the exhibition was co-curated by a Tate curator, Caroline Corbeau-Parsons, and a former V&A curator, Stephen Calloway. What’s interesting about the latter is that he was also a major lender to the exhibition. He seems to have a vast Beardsley collection, particularly printed works, as well as personal effects like his drawing desk. Calloway has also published works on Beardsley and curated an earlier exhibition; it seems something of a conflict of interest for curatorial independence to rely so heavily on the personal collection of one of the co-curators, but then again the depiction of Beardsley in the exhibition seemed balanced so it’s probably just something I pondered as I made my way through.

Exquisite Works, Requiring Close-Up Viewing

What I enjoyed about going to review Aubrey Beardsley at the Tate was the opportunity to see the original works of an artist who mostly worked in printed media. Not preparatory works, as he was quite secretive about his process. Instead his original line drawings in ink and wash, gouache, graphite etc give an insight into his work. The drawings are absolutely exquisite. The level of detail, eye for balance in a composition, and playful elements (not all erotic, but this was often the case), encourage the viewer to take their time studying each one intently.

And herein lies a problem. Honestly, I’m not sure the Tate should have reopened this exhibition, and certainly not without more effective social distancing protocols. As I said before it wasn’t quite as bad as I found Tate Modern. However, there were still too many people, and masks were not mandatory. Neither was there any attempt to encourage or enforce social distancing within the gallery space. Having been to both the London Tates, I believe the biggest issue is that they’re just selling too many tickets, particularly for a slow-moving exhibition like this one.

The only saving grace was the self-selecting audience. Whereas Andy Warhol has a broad appeal and Tate Modern is in a prime sight-seeing location, it takes a little more effort to get to Tate Britain. Thus the visitor profile for Aubrey Beardsley is a little different. People at least tried to distance and wear masks, so I felt safe enough to see the exhibition properly. Not great though, and I did spend some of my time people-dodging…

Beardsley at the Tate: Inspiration and Artistic Context

I enjoyed the narrative arc of the exhibition. The curation allows the viewer to follow Beardsley as he first takes inspiration from Edward Burne-Jones and Japanese prints. Increasingly he converts these into his own style and experiments with new media (eg. colourful posters). He then comes into his own as Artistic Editor for cutting-edge publications. And finally he works more and more feverishly to establish his own legacy. In terms of the exhibition design and curation, the wall colours were thoughfully chosen, and many related to a biographical detail related to the theme they were displaying.

I thought the room on Beardsley in his circle was more effective than that establishing his legacy on later artists. Granted there were revivals of interest in his work in the 1920s and 1960s, but Beardsley was in turn influenced by so many artistic sources that it’s not as clear-cut as pointing to the 60s and saying ‘Look, Beardsley!’. Plus I think many/most retrospectives could bring together a room showing homages, forgeries, and later cultural references, so I’m not sure how much it told me about Beardsley in particular.

Nonetheless, I am confident in giving Aubrey Beardsley at Tate Britain a reasonably positive review. I would even recommend the exhibition on the important condition that you have no qualms about social distancing. Seeing the original works up close gives an extra insight that printed reproductions aren’t always going to have, and I now have a much better understanding of Beardsley than I did going in.

On its own merits: 3.5/5
Implementing Covid rules: 1.5/5

Aubrey Beardsley until 20 September 2020