The literary reception of Aubrey Vincent Beardsley and the “New Art” in “Punch”

The interest in graphic work of Aubrey Vincent Beardsley and the “new art” is discovered in “Punch, or The London Charivari” of 1894–1895. The literary reception of the ‘new art’ and Beardsley is presented in an ekphrastic note about an exhibition, in a poetic recipe for a work of art, in a poem about literature, women and the mores of contemporary times, in a review of editions of topical novels. The work of Aubrey Beardsley is considered in the context of contemporary art of English impressionists through derogatory comparisons. The reception of Beardsley reveals a longing for true and realistic image of woman and an image of nature. The works from “Punch” are united by the pathos of opposition of the strict and the new, which is embodied in works of literature, graphics, painting, as well as in social mores and current problems of the late 19th century. Beardsley becomes a defining sign of the new time for “Punch”. Beardsley is characterised in the context of impressionist and pre-Raphaelite painting. He stands out among impressionists and pre-Raphaelites, being closer to modern poetry and modern prose. Parody of Beardsley is expressed in the distortion of the artist’s name, belittling the creative process and its result, emphasising the suffering of the audience, in reducing grotesque images, in introducing the figure of an ‘old-fashioned’ censor.