Aubrey Beardsley

The 19-year-old Beardsley famously visited Burne-Jones uninvited and became his protégé. He also took his drawings to Morris who (perhaps unsurprisingly, given his beliefs) was not impressed. Valéry met him while visiting his aunt in London. Wilde became a close friend, Beardsley providing erotic illustrations for his Salomé, though Wilde’s notoriety rebounded on Beardsley. He told Yeats that beauty was the most difficult of things. Whistler, a strong stylistic influence, refused an invitation to dine, though they did later meet, Beardsley subsequently caricaturing the older aesthete.