異端の鬼才 ビアズリー展（三菱一号館美術館） Bearsley, a Singular Prodigy (Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum)

 

ビアズリーは、家庭を支えるために、昼間は保険会社で事務員として働き、仕事が終わってから独自に学んだ絵を描いていた。

『サロメ』の挿絵などで若くして成功したが、肺結核のためにわずか25歳で世を去ってしまった。

その代表作の『サロメ』や『イエロー・ブック』、ポスターや少しエロティックな作品などが展示されていて、ビアズリーの生涯を辿りながら、その主な作品を見ることができた。

主にイギリスのヴィクトリア・アンド・アルバート博物館からの展示で構成された展覧会ということもあり、ビアズリーの作品以外にも、ビアズリーが参考にしていたというマンテーニャ、ビアズリーに助言を与えたバーン＝ジョーンズ、当時流行したジャポニズムに関連した展示など、”脇役”も充実していた。

『サロメ』の作者であるオスカー・ワイルドは、ビアズリーの挿絵が気に入らなかったという。自分の作品はビザンティン的なのに、ビアズリーの絵はあまりに日本的だ、というのがその理由だったという。

ワイルド自身は、ギュスターブ・モローの絵の方が、自分の作品にマッチした作品と考えていたようだ。

そのモローの作品も何点か展示されていて、モローのファンとしては嬉しかった。

それにしても、平日にも関わらず、物凄い人手だった。広告の効果だろうか、ビアズリーの魅力だろうか。

To support his family, Beardsley worked as a clerk at an insurance company during the day and painted pictures he had learned on his own after work.

He achieved success at a young age with his illustrations for "Salome," but died of pulmonary tuberculosis at the age of just 25.

His representative works, "Salome" and "The Yellow Book," as well as posters and some erotic works, were on display, and we were able to see Beardsley's main works while tracing his life.

As the exhibition was mainly made up of exhibits from the Victoria and Albert Museum in the UK, in addition to Beardsley's works, there were also many "supporting characters" such as Mantegna, who Beardsley used as a reference, Burne-Jones, who advised Beardsley, and exhibits related to Japonism, which was popular at the time.

Oscar Wilde, the author of "Salome," is said to have disliked Beardsley's illustrations. The reason for this was that his own works were Byzantine, while Beardsley's pictures were too Japanese.

Wilde himself seemed to think that Gustave Moreau's paintings were a better match for his own work.

Several of Moreau's works were on display, which made me happy as a Moreau fan.

Even so, there were an incredible number of people there, even though it was a weekday. Perhaps it was the effect of the advertising, or the charm of Beardsley.