I’ve long admired the work of Aubrey Beardsley but have somehow only just discovered that he was from Brighton (where I live). To celebrate this finding, I declare this week to be Aubrey Beardsley Week here on Examining the Odd!

What is a portrait good for, unless it shows just how the subject was seen by the painter? In the old days before photography came in a sitter had a perfect right to say to the artist: “Paint me just as I am.” Now if he wishes absolute fidelity he can go to the photographer and get it. – Aubrey Beardsley

Because of his mother’s absence from home, Aubrey was sent to a nearby boarding school at the age of 6; his schooling was interrupted by attacks of tuberculosis. He began to draw in school, and by the age of 10 he was selling his drawings, which were imitations of Kate Greenaway’s. – Encyclopedia