Once upon a time, while walking on Cambridge street in London...I happened to stumble on the house where Aubrey Beardsley lived. This page shows the address and this church, St. Gabriel's which is across the street and the first thing Aubrey saw everyday he looked out his window or stepped out for some fresh, um, London air. I sat on his steps until 'me bum hurt' and then skipped off. I love Beardsley.
I will confess my ignorance as to architectural drawing, but a beautiful (unfinished, I'm guessing - the decoration to the right of the angel is not there, as with the left panel) pen and ink rendition, although I wonder what Beardsley really saw every day (or rather what he looked at in particular) I'd like to think that he looked at the angel, but I'm not quite sure - he had a certain perversity about him! (Although perhaps his perversity was put on and I am entirely wrong with that speculation). It's such an exciting thing to consider.
ReplyDeleteI will have to go and have a look see and then compare the above image with the building.
What is the thing behind the church, btw?
It's just the building, unfinished. So true, what did he really see? Certainly it was a symbol near his home. I fell for the idea that he and I could 'see' the same thing.
ReplyDelete