The Climax (illustration)

The Climax is an 1893 illustration by Aubrey Beardsley (1872–1898), a leading artist of the Decadent (1880-1900) and Aesthetic movements. It depicts a scene from Oscar Wilde's play Salome, in which the femme fatale Salome has just kissed the severed head of John the Baptist, which she grasps in her hands. Elements of eroticism, symbolism, and Orientalism are present in the piece. This illustration is one of sixteen Wilde commissioned Beardsley to create for the publication of the play. The series is considered to be Beardsley's most celebrated work, created at the age of 21.

Beardsley was born in Brighton, England, in August 1872. His career was short-lived, as he died from tuberculosis at the age of 25. Nonetheless, he was one the most influential artists of the Decadent movement (1880-1900), and a leader of the Aesthetic movement. These movements centered on the idea of "art for art's sake".

Beardsley created his first version of The Climax, J’ai baisé ta bouche Iokanaan, as an illustration for the French version of Oscar Wilde's play, Salome. This illustration and eight others were printed in an article, "A New Illustrator: Aubrey Beardsley", by Joseph Pennell in the first issue of the artistic journal, The Studio in April 1893.

Wilder, one of the most influential members of the "Decadence", commissioned Beardsley to illustrate the English version of his play, which resulted in The Climax, The Stomach Dance, and The Eyes of Herod, in which women are attributed with traditionally male vices of lust, desire to dominate, and materialism.The Climax was redrawn because The Studio owned the copyright for the original drawing. The femme fatale of the successor was less menacing. Stylistically, it was more advanced, and it was drawn with more conventional page proportions, as compared to the J’ai baisé ta bouche Iokanaan version made with an elongated upright format.

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