The Art of a New Age

Aubrey Beardsley Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist (1893) India ink and watercolor
10 7/8” x 5 3/4” 9”

“Art Nouveau, 1890-1914, explores a new style in the visual arts and architecture that developed in Europe and North America at the end of the nineteenth century.”

-Paul Greenhalgh, Head of Research, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and Mari Griffith, department of exhibition programs, National Gallery of Art.

 

During this period of time many artists’ were turning to more modern, bold and detailed pieces of art. The art medium of this particular piece is ink and watercolor which were becoming increasingly more popular for some artists and for others, oil on canvas remained the safe medium. In this piece we are approached with a very similar topic to that which we have viewed previously during the Symbolist Movement in Gustave Moreau’s The Apparition (c. 1876). However, Moreau chose oil on canvas as his medium for this painting rather than Aubrey Beardsley’s Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist (1893) with an India ink and watercolor medium.

Gustave Moreau The Apparition (c. 1876) oil on canvas

Nevertheless, both paintings deal with a very iconographic theme – the death of John the Baptist. In Moreau’s version of this theme of death symbolism rejects the traditional and replaces it with the subjective. The subjective is then related to a very emotional experience which welcomed the modernist movement. Each of these works display a very Biblical representation. In my opinion, Aubrey Beardsley’s version is much more dramatic. It seems to be more brutal and violent than Moreau’s. However, Moreau’s version involved color, brightness, and a very detailed depiction of John the Baptist’s death.

Beardsley’s version of his death is one that I like much better because of the black and whiteness that provokes the viewer to see things very plainly. It is obvious what is happening because of how she painted this work of art, yet the viewer must also remember the time period in which this piece was created – during the modernist movement. The Modernist Movement was a time that included many various focuses. Some artist’s focused on nature, others on architecture, and others on catalogs, magazines, or even posters.

Beardsley’s painting also evokes a very helpless feeling for the viewer. It makes you feel as if you are there almost, just watching his death happening before your very eyes. I cannot imagine truly being there at King Herod’s birthday party watching them bring out the head of John the Baptist to his daughter, Salome, on a platter. Although neither of these show this, the implication of the known is there, and this is what both of these artist’s were trying to get the viewer to see – to read between the lines.

Overall, my favorite painting is Beardsley’s interpretation and artistic representation of Salome and John the Baptist’s head. I think it is very modern and bold, which is what I feel is way art should be when an artist is painting such a serious subject. I hope you enjoyed reading and viewing these two pieces, and please feel free to leave comments and your own interpretation of these two pieces of art! Thank you!

-Gallery 9310, The Owner