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Siegfried, Act II

Drawing
July 1892 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This drawing is an illustration relating to Act II of Richard Wagner's opera Siegfried. It was published in the first issue of the art magazine The Studio in April 1893. It is very finely detailed, and is characteristic of Beardsley's style at this period, with its so-called hairline calligraphic flourishes used for decorative effect. It demonstrates some of the many influences on Beardsley's distinctive drawings. These include reminiscences of prints by Andrea Mantegna and details from paintings by other Renaissance artists that Beardsley had seen in the National Gallery in London. It also carries echoes of the elongated figures and dense linear style characteristic of the work of Sir Edward Burne-Jones, who was an associate of the Pre-Raphaelite painters. Burne-Jones was an important mentor and inspiration for Beardsley, who presented him with this drawing. Beardsley was flattered when he hung it in his drawing room alongside prints and drawings by Albrecht Dürer and others.

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleSiegfried, Act II (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Pen, brush, ink and wash over pencil on white wove paper, laid down and secured to a thick cream backing sheet
Brief description
Drawing by Aubrey Beardsley, 'Siegfried, Act II', illustrating Wagner's lyric drama, pen, ink and wash. Britain, July 1892.
Physical description
Pen and ink drawing depicting Siegfried holding his sword in the aftermath of slaying the dragon Fafner, protector of Nibelung's gold, set within a fantastical forest landscape with clematis, sunflowers and cypress trees.
Dimensions
  • Sheet height: 41.4cm
  • Sheet width: 30.1cm
  • Image height: 385mm
  • Image width: 285mm
Style
Marks and inscriptions
A.V.B. (Signed.)
Object history
Provenance: Given by Aubrey Beardsley to Sir Edward Burne-Jones; bequeathed to Georgiana Burne-Jones (Sir Edward Burne-Jone's wife); given to the artist's sister Mabel Beardsley Wright; bequeathed to the artist's mother Mrs Ellen Agnus Beardsley; purchased from Guy Little, Mrs Beardsley's executor, in 1932.

Exhibitions: London 1904 (no. 95); Paris 1907 (no. 91?), London 1910 (no. 181), 1911 (no. 326), V&A 1966 (no. 163); New York, 1967 (no. 41); Royal Academy of Arts 'Vienna Secession', January 1971; London 1993 (no. 97) and Montreal 1995 (1912).
Historical context
Reproduced in the first number of 'The Studio', April 1893 p.11 in 'A New Illustrator: Aubrey Beardsley', by Joseph Pennell.
Subjects depicted
Literary reference'Siegfried' by Richard Wagner
Summary
This drawing is an illustration relating to Act II of Richard Wagner's opera Siegfried. It was published in the first issue of the art magazine The Studio in April 1893. It is very finely detailed, and is characteristic of Beardsley's style at this period, with its so-called hairline calligraphic flourishes used for decorative effect. It demonstrates some of the many influences on Beardsley's distinctive drawings. These include reminiscences of prints by Andrea Mantegna and details from paintings by other Renaissance artists that Beardsley had seen in the National Gallery in London. It also carries echoes of the elongated figures and dense linear style characteristic of the work of Sir Edward Burne-Jones, who was an associate of the Pre-Raphaelite painters. Burne-Jones was an important mentor and inspiration for Beardsley, who presented him with this drawing. Beardsley was flattered when he hung it in his drawing room alongside prints and drawings by Albrecht Dürer and others.
Associated objects
Bibliographic references
  • Owens, Susan, The Art of Drawing: British Masters and Methods since 1600. London: V&A Publishing, 2013. p. 144, fig. 117
  • Lacambre, Geneviève (ed.) Il Simbolismo. Da Moreau a Gauguin a Klimt, Italy : Ferrara arte, 2007
  • Lang, Paul, Richard Wagner: Visions d'Artistes, d'Auguste Renoir a Anselm Kiefer, Paris, Somogy éditions d'art; Genève: Musées d'art et d'histoire, 2005 no.32
  • Greenhalgh, Paul (Ed.), Art Nouveau: 1890-1914 . London: V&A Publications, 2000
  • Victoria & Albert Museum Department of Prints and Drawings and Department of Paintings, Accessions 1932. London: HMSO, 1933.
  • Lacambre, Geneviève (ed.) Il Simbolismo. Da Moreau a Gauguin a Klimt, Italy : Ferrara arte, 2007 no.1
  • Zatlin, Linda Gertner, Aubrey Beardsley: A Catalogue Raisonne. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016.
Collection
Accession number
E.578-1932

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Record createdDecember 29, 2003
Record URL
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