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Portrait of Himself thumbnail 2
Not on display

Portrait of Himself

Print
1894 (made)
Artist/Maker
Beardsley, Aubrey Vincent (artist)
Place of origin
England (made)

Line block print depicting the artist as a small figure in the centre of a large opulent bed. Only the face is visible underneath a large spotted nightcap, peeping around the bed curtains which are decorated with floral motifs and tassels. Lettered in French in the top left corner: 'Par les dieux jumeaux tous les monstres ne sont pas en Afrique' [By the twin Gods, not all monsters are in Africa], in reference to the artist's frail health and the danger of tuberculosis. These are the opening lines from 'Le Pédant Joué' by Cyrano de Bergerac (1654).

Object details

Category
Prints
Object type
Print
TitlePortrait of Himself (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Line block print
Paper
Pen and Indian Ink
Line Block
Brief description
Line block print by Aubrey Beardsley depicting a self portrait of the artist in bed. Great Britain, 1894.
Physical description
Line block print depicting the artist as a small figure in the centre of a large opulent bed. Only the face is visible underneath a large spotted nightcap, peeping around the bed curtains which are decorated with floral motifs and tassels. Lettered in French in the top left corner: 'Par les dieux jumeaux tous les monstres ne sont pas en Afrique' [By the twin Gods, not all monsters are in Africa], in reference to the artist's frail health and the danger of tuberculosis. These are the opening lines from 'Le Pédant Joué' by Cyrano de Bergerac (1654).
Dimensions
  • Height: 16.5cm
  • Width: 10.4cm
Object history
This is one of 200 prints made by different photo-process techniques (E.358 to E.556-1899) which are reproductions, chiefly proofs, of designs and illustrations by Aubrey Beardsley. They were bought from Mrs A. Gleeson White, 21st January 1899, and had formed part of the collection of Joseph Gleeson White (1851-1898), art historian and first editor of 'The Studio' magazine.
Bibliographic references
  • Sturgis, Alexander, Rupert Christiansen, Lois Oliver and Michael Wilson Rebels and Martyrs : The Image of the Artist in the Nineteenth Century. London : The National Gallery, 2006 48
  • The following excerpt is from p. 103 of Aubrey Beardsley: A Catalogue Raisonné, Volume II, Linda Gertner Zatlin, Yale University Press, 2016: 'Because the face in the drawing does not resemble Beardsley's, this design could illustrate the beginning of chapter seven of Venus and Tannhäuser when the Abbé awakens (Fletcher 1987, p. 150; Fletcher in Langenfeld 1989, p. 245). In addition to being a portrait, the image belongs to the tradition of the dreaming figure and could be an allusion to Fuseli's Nightmare, with Beardsley protected by a female Pan figure who is 'an integral part of his horrible dreams, asleep or awake' (Heyd 1986, pp.162-3).'
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
E.429-1899

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Record createdNovember 1, 2006
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O128895/portrait-of-himself-print-beardsley-aubrey-vincent/
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