A Review:

Saturday 29th June 2003

AUBREY BEARDSLEY: PIERROT OF PIMLICO AND PICCADILLY 

The London Adventure continued one hot afternoon in June when the Beardsley Woman appeared in the Streets of Pimlico with her long, black skirts and peacock-feathered hat. We spotted the characteristic black silhouette as we emerged from Pimlico station to join a genial crowd of assorted bibliophiles, writers, artists, publishers, occultists and academics, patiently gathering in the sun.

Here began an enjoyable exploration of 1880's and 1890's Pimlico, Mayfair and Piccadilly, virtually mapping the London life and career of Aubrey Beardsley. With Yellow Book in hand, the Beardsley Woman, Alexia Lazou, deftly guided her twenty-four followers on a well researched urban adventure, pausing at each of the Beardsley family residences and other sites of significance to the young artist and decadent society.

The many places of interest included no. 114, Cambridge Street, where the Beardsley family lived from 1893 to 1895. Here, Beardsley and his actress sister Mabel were 'At Home' on Thursdays to artists such as Ricketts and Shannon, publisher John Lane and many decadent figures. These probably included the flamboyantly decadent Count Stenbock, a friend who subsequently referred to Beardsley's sister, in one of his verses, as 'Mabel of the Thursday Teas.' *

It was at this house that Beardsley had his innovative orange and black rooms, designed by Aymer Vallance. Here we lingered, as the Beardsley Woman, with photographs and illustrations from her Yellow Book, explained the history, design and décor of the interior, in which the artist created many of his famous black and white illustrations. Exquisite, decorative designs with myriad pans, fauns and satyrs and curiosities such as aborted foetuses were created in this semi-darkened room, at a table flanked by two large candles.

Our route between Pimlico and Piccadilly took us to many more Beardsley homes and decadent landmarks and after a bus ride to Green Park, we passed by the former 1890's Hogarth Club in Dover Street. This, we learned, had been a regular venue for Beardsley and Wilde's decadent circle as well as the 'unofficial headquarters' of The Yellow Book. We next arrived at publisher Leonard Smithers's former shop in Royal Arcade, Old Bond Street. Smithers published the Symons/Beardsley Savoy periodical, in addition to pornography and other material considered morally dubious at the time, which included translations of Zola.

Here we heard about the "Gruesome Curiosity" included in Smithers's catalogue, described therein as "most tastefully and appropriately bound in HUMAN SKIN, emblematically blind-tooled with Death's Heads, Cross-bones, and Hour Glasses." There was much to discuss with Alexia about Smithers's role in fin de siècle publishing and the careers of decadent writers but soon it was time to move on to the final and most significant 1890's publishing landmark of them all.

The former shop and offices of the Bodley Head and John Lane in Vigo Street had been the initial home of The Yellow Book, with its characteristic Beardsley illustrations, and also of Lane's successful Keynotes Series. The style and impact of these small books was largely defined by Beardsley's designs, which included an individual key motif on the spine of each book, incorporating the initials of its author. We lingered here in discussion with the Beardsley Woman who attracted curious glances from passers by as she stood before the familiar shop-front, like an 1890's tableau.

And so the afternoon finally came to an end as we quenched our thirst at The Glasshouse Stores, Brewer Street. Here, we spent a few hours in congenial company, discussing the events and discoveries of an enjoyable expedition. For this we thank our Beardsley guide Alexia Lazou and the founding organiser of the London Adventure, Nick Granger-Taylor.

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* On Mabel's early death, W.B. Yeats also made her the subject of a poem 'Upon a Dying Lady,' -- see John Adlard's Stenbock, Yeats and the Nineties (London: Cecil and Amelia Woolf, 1969).