Frederick Evans, “Aubrey Beardsley (With Hands)”, 1893, Platinum Print and Photogravure, Wilson Center for Photography, London
Born in London in June of 1853, Frederick H. Evans was a British photographer known fo his images of architectural subjects. Before becoming a full-time photographer in 1898, he was a bookseller. While working as a clerk in London’s breweries, Aubrey Beardsley spent his lunch breaks browsing in Evan’s second-hand bookshop, developing his artistic and literary tastes from the wide variety of books.
As a result of his visits, Aubrey Beardsley became close friends with Frederick Evans, who was developing his photographic technique of monochrome printing involving a platinum process. Using his new process, Evans shot this portrait of Beardsley in 1893.
This portrait of Aubrey Beardsley was used in the editions of his early published works and has become the defining image of the artist. It became known as the ‘gargoyle portrait’, for Beardsley’s pose resembles the famous carved figure on the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.
Born in August of 1872, Aubrey Vincent Beardsley was an English author and illustrator. His black ink drawings were influenced by Japanese woodcuts, and emphasized the grotesque, the decadent, and the erotic. He was a leading figure in the aesthetic movement which also included Oscar Wilde and James McNeill Whistler. Beardsley’s contribution to the development of the Art Nouveau and poster styles was significant despite his early death from tuberculosis in March of 1898, at the age of twenty-five.
Image reblogged with many thanks to a great photographic history site: https://artblart.com