Art Criticism - The State University of New York
Art Criticism - The State University of New York
Art Criticism - The State University of New York
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ences cited herein, the femme fatale figures strongly in the work <strong>of</strong> the three<br />
artists considered here. She is a loaded archetype that itself deserves scrutiny<br />
through a feminist lens. It could be argued that Beardsley does woman a<br />
disservice by robbing her <strong>of</strong> part <strong>of</strong> her humanity: the joy <strong>of</strong> sex. Surely as a<br />
response toa changing society, however, he grants her a basic human right not<br />
given to her by his peers: political empowerment, albeit by way <strong>of</strong> her sexuality.<br />
Still, in the works <strong>of</strong> these decadents, woman is never both politicalJy and<br />
sexually empowered.<br />
Notes<br />
1 J.K. Huysmans, Las Bas (<strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong>: Albert and Charles Boni, 1924).'<br />
3 Ibid, p. 197.<br />
4 Linda Zatlin, Felicien Rops and Aubrey Beardsley: <strong>The</strong> Naked and the<br />
Nude, (Ann Arbor/London: UMI Research Press,. 1989).<br />
5 Ibid, p. 192.<br />
6 Chris Snodgrass, Aubrey Beardsley, Dandy <strong>of</strong> the Grotesque (<strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong>/<br />
Oxford: Oxford <strong>University</strong> Press, 1995).<br />
7 Ibid, p. 1165 from J. Reed, Decadent Style (Athens: Ohio <strong>University</strong> Press,<br />
1985),p, 145.<br />
8 ZatIin, p. 183.<br />
9Ibid,p.197.<br />
10 Ibid, p. 169.<br />
11 Dijkstra, Bram, Idols <strong>of</strong> Perversity (<strong>New</strong> <strong>York</strong>/Oxford: Oxford <strong>University</strong><br />
. Press, 1986), p. 325.<br />
12 Ibid, p. 194.<br />
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<strong>Art</strong> <strong>Criticism</strong><br />
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