''The Peacock Skirt'' is an 1893 illustration by

Aubrey Beardsley Aubrey Vincent Beardsley (21 August 187216 March 1898) was an English illustrator and author. His black ink drawings were influenced by Woodblock printing in Japan, Japanese woodcuts, and depicted the grotesque, the decadent, and the erotic. He ...

. His original

pen and ink A pen is a common writing tool, writing instrument that applies ink to a surface, usually paper, for writing or drawing. Early pens such as reed pens, quill pens, dip pens and ruling pens held a small amount of ink on a Nib (pen), nib or in a sm ...

drawing was reproduced as a

woodblock print Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper. Each page or image is create ...

in the first English edition of

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

's one-act play '' Salome'' in 1894. The original drawing was bequeathed by Grenville Lindall Winthrop to the

Fogg Art Museum The Harvard Art Museums are part of Harvard University and comprise three museums: the Fogg Museum (established in 1895), the Busch-Reisinger Museum (established in 1903), and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum (established in 1985), and four research ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1943.

Background

Wilde's one-act play '' Salome'' was originally written in French in 1891, while he was living in Paris. Performance of the play was prohibited in England, ostensibly on account of it depicting biblical characters. The play inspired Beardsley to make an illustration, ''J'ai baisé ta bouche, Iokanaan'' ("I have kissed your mouth, Jokanaan"), which was printed with eight other drawings in an article, "A New Illustrator: Aubrey Beardsley", by

Joseph Pennell Joseph Pennell (July 4, 1857 – April 23, 1926) was an American draftsman, etcher, lithographer and illustrator for books and magazines. A prolific artist, he spent most of his working life in Europe, and is known for his interest in landmarks, l ...

in the first issue of the artistic journal '' The Studio'' in April 1893. Wilde wrote to Beardsley, recognising him as a "kindred spirit" and enclosing a copy of ''Salome'', and commissioned him to illustrate the first edition of the play, which was published in English in 1894.

Description of ''The Peacock Skirt''

''The Peacock Skirt'' was the second of ten illustrative plates published with the English version of Wilde's play. It shows a rear quarter view of a woman, Salome, wearing a long robe decorated with stylised peacock feather pattern. Her headdress is also decorated with peacock feathers, and more long peacock feathers drape down over her back. The head of a

peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera ''Pavo (genus), Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female pea ...

is visible over her left shoulder. Salome is turned to the right, to converse with a second figure, probably the "Young Syrian" mentioned in the text of the play, with an androgynous face but masculine hairy knees, elaborate hairstyle and pleated tunic. The drawing was influenced by James McNeill Whistler's decorations in his 1876–77 '' Peacock Room'', designed for Frederick Leyland's house at 49 Princes Gate, but now in the

Freer Gallery of Art The Freer Gallery of Art is an art museum of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. focusing on Asian art. The Freer and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery together form the National Museum of Asian Art in the United States. The Freer and Sac ...

. The refined curving lines of Beardsley's drawing were also influenced by

Japanese woodblock prints Woodblock printing in Japan (, ''mokuhanga'') is a technique best known for its use in the ''ukiyo-e'' artistic genre of single sheets, but it was also used for printing books in the same period. Widely adopted in Japan during the Edo period (160 ...

, and anticipate the forms of the

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

aesthetic. The print measures .

Other illustrations

''The Studio'' owned the copyright for the original drawing of ''Iokanaan'', so Beardsley drew an adapted version, ''

The Climax The Climax may refer to: * The Climax (1944 film), a horror film * The Climax (1930 film), a thriller film * The Climax (illustration), a work of art by Aubrey Beardsley See also * Climax (disambiguation) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Climax, The ...

'', which was published as an illustration for the play. Beardsley added nine other drawings, including ''The Peacock Skirt'', to make ten plates: * Plate 1, ''The Woman in the Moon'' * Plate 2, ''The Peacock Skirt'' * Plate 3, ''The Black Cape'' * Plate 4, ''The Platonic Lament'' * Plate 5, ''Enter Herodias'' * Plate 6, ''The Eyes of Herod'' * Plate 7, ''The Stomach Dance'' * Plate 8, ''The Toilette of Salome'' * Plate 9, ''The Dancer's Reward'' * Plate 10, ''The Climax'' Salome also wears a distinctive peacock headdress in plates 6 (''The Eyes of Herod'') and 7 (''The Stomach Dance''). Beardsley also drew a peacock feather design for the book's cover, and decorative borders for the title page and contents page.

Reception

Prints of Beardsley's drawings were included in the English edition of ''Salome'', published in 1894 by

Elkin Mathews Charles Elkin Mathews (1851 – 10 November 1921) was a British publisher and bookseller who played an important role in the literary life of London in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Mathews was born in Gravesend, and learned his tr ...

and John Lane of

The Bodley Head The Bodley Head is an English publishing house, founded in 1887 and existing as an independent entity until the 1970s. The name was used as an imprint of Random House Children's Books from 1987 to 2008. In April 2008, it was revived as an adul ...

in London and by Copeland and Day in Boston, Massachusetts, reproduced using a set of wood blocks carved by

Carl Hentschel Carl Hentschel (27 March 1864 – 9 January 1930) was a British artist, photographer, printmaker, inventor and businessperson. He developed techniques for printing illustrations, particularly the Hentschel Colourtype Process using three colours, ...

. Beardsley's stylised signature of parallel lines appears in the top right; versions printed from the woodcut also have Hentschel's initials in the bottom left. The original pen and ink drawings were later reproduced using a photographic lineblock process, in which the original drawings were photographed and the negatives used to create printing blocks on light-sensitive plates. The plate measures . John Lane published a second version of the play on Japanese

vellum Vellum is prepared animal skin or membrane, typically used as writing material. Parchment is another term for this material, from which vellum is sometimes distinguished, when it is made from calfskin, as opposed to that made from other anima ...

in 1904 with 16 plates, including the ten original drawings, with the decorative front cover, title page and list of illustrations from the original 1894 book; added to these thirteen prints were an image of ''John and Solome'', a second version of ''The Toilette of Salome'', and an endpiece. Another version was published in 1907 with several new images, including ''Salome on a Settle''. The face of the (wo)man in the moon with drooping eyes in the first plate appears to be a caricature of Wilde himself; faces with similar features also appearing in plates 4 (''The Platonic Lament''), 5 (''Enter Herodias'') and 6 (''The Eyes of Herod''). The original pen and ink drawing of ''The Peacock Skirt'' was retained by the publisher John Lane and then his widow. It was sold at auction in 1926 to art dealers, and acquired by Grenville Lindall Winthrop in 1927. Winthrop bequeathed it to the

in 1943. Salomé- a tragedy in one act pg 11.jpg, Cover design Salomé- a tragedy in one act pg 7.jpg, Title page Salomé- a tragedy in one act pg 9.jpg, List of illustrations Salomé- a tragedy in one act pg 16.jpg , Plate 1 - ''The Woman in the Moon'' Salomé- a tragedy in one act pg 21.jpg , Plate 2 - ''The Peacock Skirt'' Salomé- a tragedy in one act pg 29.jpg , Plate 3 - ''The Black Cape'' Salomé- a tragedy in one act pg 101.jpg , Added in 1904 - ''John and Salome'' Salomé- a tragedy in one act pg 37.jpg , Plate 4 - ''The Platonic Lament'' Salomé- a tragedy in one act pg 43.jpg , Plate 5 - ''Enter Herodias'' Salomé- a tragedy in one act pg 51.jpg , Plate 6 - ''The Eyes of Herod'' Salomé- a tragedy in one act pg 57.jpg , Plate 7 - ''The Stomach Dance'' Salomé- a tragedy in one act pg 65.jpg , Plate 8 - ''The Toilette of Salome'' Salomé- a tragedy in one act pg 71.jpg , Added in 1904 - ''The Toilette of Salome'' (second version) Salomé- a tragedy in one act pg 79.jpg , Plate 9 - ''The Dancer's Reward'' Salomé- a tragedy in one act pg 87.jpg , Plate 10 - ''The Climax'' Salomé- a tragedy in one act pg 105.jpg , Tailpiece, added in 1904 - ''Cul de Lampe''

References

''The Peacock Skirt''
Harvard Art Museums
''The Peacock Skirt''
Victoria and Albert Museum
''The Peacock Skirt'' (1907)
Victoria and Albert Museum
J'ai baisé ta bouche Iokanaan
Victoria and Albert Museum

Yelena Primorac, The Victorian Web

The Victorian Web
Aubrey Beardsley’s ''The Peacock Skirt'': a bold vision of female sexuality
''The Guardian'', 21 April 2017
''The Vital Art of D.H. Lawrence: Vision and Expression''
Jack Stewart, p. 10-12
''The Anglo-Japanese Alliance, 1902-1922''
Phillips O'Brien, p. 213
''The Publishing History of Aubrey Beardsley's Compositions for Oscar Wilde's Salome''
Joan Navarre, p. 168 {{Salomé 19th-century prints 1893 works 19th-century drawings