Week 6 : The image as a message
Symbolism and hidden meaning have become a common occurrence in many different forms of art and can date back to many different periods in time. Deeper meanings in drawings and paintings, whether it is the subject of the picture maybe a hidden message can give a picture a whole new hidden, interesting layer that can be picked apart for study or discussion.
The growing popularity of narrative illustration during the end of the nineteenth century is also partly responsible creating the possibility of numerous meanings and messages in an illustration.
An artist that utilized this was the contemporary artist, Aubrey Beardsley, who often hid erotic and humorous themes in his illustrations.
This illustration by Aubrey Beardsley shows two grotesques carrying Salome's corpse. Salome herself is a visual representation of the beauty in death. The coffin bears the words 'Fin', as in the imminent end.
His contribution to the periodical journal, 'The Yellow Book', was mainly through illustration work and the pictures that featured in the journals often had hid hidden images within the image itself.
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