In Night Piece, Beardsley extensively uses negative space to create the "physical exaggeration" associated with the grotesque art style (Zatlin 91). Though he often achieve this through deformities and appalling images, this piece is somewhat more unique, having very little to look at. It can clearly be connected to Machen’s works through the sinister mood surrounding a mysterious woman. There is a lot left in the dark and unseen, similar to Machen’s works of weird that find horror in what is unknown about a scene. Though, just like in Machen’s works, the viewer is still left squinting to catch a glimpse of what is beyond.
Works Cited:
Beardsley, Aubrey. Night Piece. 1894.
Timpano, Nathan J. “‘His Wretched Hand’: Aubrey Beardsley, the Grotesque Body, and Viennese Modern Art.” Art History, vol. 40, no. 3, June 2017, pp. 554–81.
Zatlin, Linda Gertner. “Aubrey Beardsley’s ‘Japanese’ Grotesques.” Victorian Literature and Culture, vol. 25, no. 1, 1997, pp. 87–108.