Aubrey Beardsley, British artist, 1890s. Beardsley (1872-1898) was the most original genius of British art in the 1890s. In his short career, before his early death from consumption, he became internationally famous for his illustrations which pushed against the limits of fin-de-siècle decadence. Beardsley's style was an entirely original blend of English Pre-Raphaelitism (especially Burne-Jones' style), French Rococo engravings and Japonisme.