Student Artwork Guide

Name Class Date

Aubrey Vincent Beardsley, Isolde. Public domain. See this canvas under a moving light: the drawing, the true colour under the varnish, the bare pigment

The facts

Artist: Aubrey Vincent Beardsley wahooart.com/en/artists/aubrey-vincent-beardsley/
Artist’s dates: 1872 – 1898
Movement: Art Nouveau Flowing, plant-like curves running through everything from paintings to lamps and doorways.

Copyright This work is in the public domain. Aubrey Vincent Beardsley died in 1898; copyright lasts 70 years after the artist’s death, so it ended in 1968.

Isolde — Aubrey Vincent Beardsley

When might this have been painted?

1870
1880
1890

Row above: the years. Row below: how old the artist was at the start and at the end of each span — 0 at birth, 26 at death.

Shaded: the lifetime of Aubrey Vincent Beardsley (1872–1898) every dated painting, decade by decade

This record has no exact year on file — using the artist's lifetime and the work's style, what decade would you guess?

Compare with

Frontispiece for 'The Yellow Book: An Illustrated Quarterly', 1894 wahooart.com/en/art/aubrey-vincent-beardsley-frontispiece-for-the-yellow-book-an-illustrated-D2T27F-en/
The cover of The Yellow Book, 1894 wahooart.com/en/art/aubrey-vincent-beardsley-the-cover-of-the-yellow-book-8XXP6T-en/
The Black Cape, 1894 wahooart.com/en/art/aubrey-vincent-beardsley-the-black-cape-8XXP64-en/

Pick one work above: name two things it shares with this one, and one thing that's different.

More works to set beside this one: wahooart.com/en/art/similar/aubrey-vincent-beardsley-isolde-8BWN3J-en/

Colours

Measured from the image

Main colour

Brown #da1826

Catalogued palette

#DA1826
#7E6051
#F3E3B8
#C7AC8D

These colours inside the artist’s whole palette Find other paintings by colour

Palette: Warm The dominant colour family in the image.
Main colour name: Brown
Intensity: Vivid How saturated and varied the colours are, from a single toned-down hue to many bright ones.
Contrast: Bold How much the colours differ in lightness and saturation across the picture.
Harmony: Balanced Harmony How well the colours work together, from clashing to fully unified.
Brightness: Brilliant How light or dark the picture reads overall, from deep shadow to bright highlight.
Saturation: Clear Color Presence How pure and strong the colours are, from near-grey to fully vivid.

Where in the world is this painting looked at?

under 1%
1–3%
3–8%
8–20%
20% and over

This painting alone has too few recorded visitors to map, so the plate reads every work by Aubrey Vincent Beardsley over the last twelve months — 9 countries in all. Where these figures come from

The ten leading countries

1 China 66.7%3,800 visits
2 Germany 10.5%600 visits
3 United Kingdom 5.3%300 visits
4 United States of America 5.3%300 visits
5 Hong Kong 3.5%200 visits
6 Netherlands 3.5%200 visits
7 Ireland 1.8%100 visits
8 Poland 1.8%100 visits
9 Russia 1.8%100 visits

Find the three darkest countries on the map. Is the museum that keeps this painting in any of them? Write down one reason people far away might look at it.

The 20 most looked-at works by Aubrey Vincent Beardsley

1 Oscar Wilde at Work 5.4%400 visits
2 The Return of Tannhäuser to the Venusberg 4.1%300 visits
3 Cover design to 'The Pierrot of the Minute', 1897 2.7%200 visits
4 The Burial of Salome 2.7%200 visits
5 Front Cover and spine of Le Morte Darthur 2.7%200 visits
6 Incipit Vita Nova 2.7%200 visits
7 Merlin and Nimue, 1894 2.7%200 visits
8 Publicity poster for 'The Yellow Book' 2.7%200 visits
9 The Black Cat 2.7%200 visits
10 Frontispiece for 'The Yellow Book: An Illustrated Quarterly', 1894 2.7%200 visits
11 Creation 2.7%200 visits
12 Of a Neophyte and how the Black Art was revealed unto him 2.7%200 visits
13 How King Mark and Sir Dinadan Heard Sir Palomides II 2.7%200 visits
14 Poster of Girl and a Bookshop 2.7%200 visits
15 The Black Cape, 1894 1.4%100 visits
16 The cover of The Yellow Book, 1894 1.4%100 visits
17 Vol .III, 1894 1.4%100 visits
18 Advertisement for Children's Books, 1894 1.4%100 visits
19 Chopin 1.4%100 visits
— Isolde this painting 0.0%0 visits

Together these works take 48.9% of all the attention this artist's paintings received over the last twelve months. The catalogue holds 239 works by this artist, of which 57 were looked at at least once. This painting has not been looked at yet in that time — it closes the list without a rank. The same counts, month by month

Bars measure attention, not quality. Pick the work at the top and this one: name one thing that might make a painting famous beyond how well it is painted.

Artist

Aubrey Vincent Beardsley

Born in Brighton, United Kingdom

early life and career

aubrey vincent beardsley, a renowned english illustrator and author, was born on august 21, 1872, in brighton, sussex, england. his life was marked by social instability and emotional intensity, with recurrent attacks of tuberculosis affecting his health throughout his life. despite these challenges, beardsley's mother encouraged his artistic talents, and he developed a passion for music and literature.

artistic style and influences

beardsley's black ink drawings were influenced by japanese woodcuts, depicting the grotesque, the decadent, and the erotic. his work is characterized by elaborate composition, refined lines, and exploration of themes such as sexual identity. beardsley's contribution to the development of art nouveau was significant, despite his tragically short life.

notable works and collaborations

* salome, a play by oscar wilde, for which beardsley provided illustrations the yellow book, a magazine co-founded by beardsley, showcasing his art nouveau style /en/art/list/ a book of fifty drawings, a collection of beardsley's works, featuring his unique blend of the grotesque and the erotic

legacy and impact

beardsley's work had a profound impact on the development of art nouveau. his influence can be seen in the work of french symbolists and later-period art nouveau artists. [https://AllPaintingsStore.com/@/aubrey-vincent-beardsley](https://AllPaintingsStore.com/@/aubrey-vincent-beardsley)

view beardsley's artworks on AllPaintingsStore: [https://AllPaintingsStore.com/@/aubrey-vincent-beardsley](https://AllPaintingsStore.com/@/aubrey-vincent-beardsley)

read more about beardsley on wikipedia: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/aubrey_beardsley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/aubrey_beardsley)

key artworks and museums featuring beardsley's work

* the climax, a painting by beardsley, showcasing his unique style [https://AllPaintingsStore.com/@@/8bwn3p-aubrey-vincent-beardsley-the-climax](https://AllPaintingsStore.com/@@/8bwn3p-aubrey-vincent-beardsley-the-climax) * isolde, another notable work by beardsley, featuring his art nouveau style [https://AllPaintingsStore.com/@@/8bwn3j-aubrey-vincent-beardsley-isolde](https://AllPaintingsStore.com/@@/8bwn3j-aubrey-vincent-beardsley-isolde) beardsley's life was cut short by tuberculosis at the age of 25, but his legacy continues to inspire and influence artists to this day.

Where to read more

The artist Aubrey Vincent Beardsley wahooart.com/en/artists/aubrey-vincent-beardsley/
Similar works More works to compare wahooart.com/en/art/similar/aubrey-vincent-beardsley-isolde-8BWN3J-en/

Find this online

QR code linking to the download page for Isolde

wahooart.com/en/art/download/aubrey-vincent-beardsley-isolde-8BWN3J-en/

Cite this artwork

MLA: Beardsley, Aubrey Vincent. Isolde. n.d., https://wahooart.com/en/art/aubrey-vincent-beardsley-isolde-8BWN3J-en/
APA: Beardsley, Aubrey Vincent (n.d.). Isolde [Painting]. https://wahooart.com/en/art/aubrey-vincent-beardsley-isolde-8BWN3J-en/
Chicago: Aubrey Vincent Beardsley. Isolde. n.d. https://wahooart.com/en/art/aubrey-vincent-beardsley-isolde-8BWN3J-en/
Harvard: Beardsley, Aubrey Vincent (n.d.) Isolde. Available at: https://wahooart.com/en/art/aubrey-vincent-beardsley-isolde-8BWN3J-en/

Isolde — Aubrey Vincent Beardsley

Look closely

Answer in your own words. There are no wrong answers here — only answers you can explain.

What catches your eye first, and why?
Which colours or shapes create the mood — and what is that mood?
How many faces can you find? ____ (our catalogue counts 1 — do you agree?)
Our catalogue files this work under: women. Do you agree? What would you add, or take away?
Look back at Frontispiece for 'The Yellow Book: An Illustrated Quarterly' (1894), earlier in this guide. Name two things it shares with this work, and one that is different.

Your response

Write a short paragraph about this artwork. Use the facts from the earlier parts of this guide, and your answers above.

Questions & Answers

How much light do the colors of "Isolde" appear to reflect?

The luminance recorded for "Isolde" by Aubrey Vincent Beardsley is bright balance.

How strong are the colors of "Isolde"?

"Isolde" by Aubrey Vincent Beardsley is recorded with a clear color presence saturation and a vivid intensity.

Can I examine "Isolde" in more detail?

The X-Ray page of "Isolde" by Aubrey Vincent Beardsley is an interactive viewer that lets you slide through eleven optical layers of the artwork's image, including an X-ray style view.