Item 9: Sudden Appearance of Mr. Beerbohm in the New English Art Club (1909)

Beerbohm’s comic sense was irreverent. Jesus Christ was the greatest of celebrities, worshiped by multitudes, so why not cast himself in that role when mocking his own fame? Producing a parody of The Apparition of Christ by the Dutch painter Jan Joest (ca. 1450–1519), Beerbohm created a scenario in which he, a benevolent and godlike figure in exquisite evening dress (instead of shining raiment), materialized before the assembled New English Art Club (NEAC). Like the earlier Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, the NEAC was an avant-garde alternative to the Royal Academy. Its members included artists such as Augustus John (1878–1961) and Philip Wilson Steer (1860–1942), whose bust looks down from above the doorway in Beerbohm’s group caricature.