Siyah ve Beyaz

Beardsley was an eccentric in both his public and private lives. "I have only one aim, to be grotesque. If I am not grotesque, I am nothing." Oscar Wilde described Beardsley as having "a face like a silver axe, and hair as green as grass." Beardsley was meticulous about his attire: dove-grey suits, hats, ties, and yellow gloves. Beardsley suffered from repeated attacks of tuberculosis throughout his career. He suffered from frequent pulmonary hemorrhages, often unable to work or leave his home. His last letter before his death was sent to the publisher Leonard Smithers and his close friend Herbert Charles Pollitte: "My dear friend, I beg you to destroy all copies of Lysistrata and all bad drawings. In the name of all that is holy, all obscene drawings." Both men ignored Beardsley's request. Smithers continued to sell both reprints and forgeries of Beardsley's works.