Maggs Bros Ltd. Rare Books, Manuscripts, Autographs and first editions.

Pen, indian ink and wash. 11 x 4 cm. Mounted, framed and glazed.

One of the many small drawings for the short series Bon-Mots, published by Dent in 1893. They were done simultaneously with the huge suite of drawings for Le Morte Darthur. Their small scale and lightness of subject allows him to show off his airy (and sometimes blackly comic) side, and in drawings such as this elegant view of an elaborately gowned lady shown from behind we see more of his mature delicacy and strength of line than in the heavier Morte Darthur drawings.Provenance: the artist Pickford Waller (stated by Piccadilly Gallery) Piccadilly Gallery, London, sold 1983 to Robert Booth. Exhibited "Aubrey Beardsley. A Centenary Tribute" Kawasaki, 1998.Literature: Brian Reade Beardsley, plate 221, where reproduced from the rather poor block.

BEARDSLEY, Aubrey Stock Code: MO47807