Erotic Art

I refer to this as a page dedicated to Erotic Art, but at the same time I don’t want to have anything that would deeply offend the general public, so it mostly contains pictures of nude figures, both male and female and perhaps other images that at the time, were considered to be erotic, scandalous or otherwise risqué. After all, in the prudish Victorian age, the sight of a finely turned ankle was enough to partake in a quick sniff from a bottle of smelling salts.

	Barbarella the movie – …“There’s a kind of cockle shell about you”. If you are familiar with this lyric, then you might also know “Entrance to Sogo“, which is what I was listening to this morning on my music player, in the bus; as part of my daily commute.  It was at this point that I remembered that this song was penned by Bob Crewe; who sadly departed us on September 11, 2014. For further information click here.
	Bikini girls of Villa del Casale, located approx. 3 km outside the town of Piazza Armerina, in Sicily, it makes me wonder whether the Bikini is that new and modern after all. For further information click here.
	I will apologize in advance, if you find this illustration offensive, however, I do feel obligated to cover erotic art amongst my offerings and ask once more – “Is it art“? This particular piece is from a 1962 cover of a now defunct magazine entitled: ‘Exotique.’ Known under various pseudonyms such as Van Rod, Bondy, and Eneg (“Gene” spelled backwards),  Gene Bilbrew was the illustrator of this cover. Born on June 29, 1923, Eugene Bilbrew  was an American cartoonist and fetish artist. For further information click here.
	Arnold Böcklin was a Swiss symbolist painter who was born on 16th October 1827 .  His father, Christian Frederick Böcklin (b. 1802), was descended from an old family of Schaffhausen, and engaged in the silk trade. His mother, Ursula Lippe, was a native from the same city.  Arnold studied at the Düsseldorf Academy under Schirmer, who saw his immense potential and sent him to Antwerp and Brussels. It was here that he learned to copy the works of Flemish and Dutch masters. Arnold Böcklin later went to Paris and worked at the Louvre, and was known for his landscapes. For further information click here.
	This year’s Chelsea Flower Show in West London has a large clam shell where a model has been posing in it, representing Botticelli’s masterpiece “The Birth of Venus” aka “Nascita di Venere”.   ‘Botticelli‘ was a nickname which he was given and originated from the insignia on the overhanging shop sign of  his father’s tannery business. The insignia was a “little barrel” aka “Botticelli“. For further information click here.
	French fashion and advertising painter, “Raymond” aka Pierre-Laurent Brenot was born on 8th July 1913 and often referred to as the “Father of the French pin-up”. In 1928, he entered the Ecole Estienne (School of the Book), which he attended for three years and four years later he was working and studying with the French designer Fernand Hertenberger.  He moved on and worked for fashion houses such as that of  Mr. Chatard, within the store “Fashionable” based on the Boulevard Montmartre. For further information click here.
	A certain cover art illustrator known as Barney Bubbles did a variety of colourful covers of L.P. record albums in the 1970s. In particular, he designed some amazing cover work for the acid-Prog-rock band ‘Hawkwind‘. Here we have the artwork for Hawkwind’s Space Ritual live double album fold out sleeve of psychedelic splendour from 1973. It was the band’s fourth album, which reached #9 in the UK album charts. For further information click here.
	Paul Colin was a Junerian. He was born on 27th June 1892 in Nancy, France – and died on 18th June 1985 in Nogent-sur-Marne, 8 days before his 93rd birthday. Colin was a famous French theater set, costume and poster artist. His most famous piece-de-resistence was his 1925 Art déco poster “Le Tumulte Noir“, which helped to launch the career of Josephine Baker, (who later became his mistress). For further information click here.
	Mazo de la Roche  –  (pron. may’zo) was born on January 15, 1879, in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada. She was the successful author of the prolific Jalna series of novels; one of the most popular of the era. For further information click here.
	Sir Francis Bernard Dicksee was born in London, on 27th November, 1853. He was an English Victorian painter and illustrator, best known for his popular portraits of fashionable women, as well as dramatic literary, historical, and legendary scenes. His early teacher was his father Thomas, a painter, who taught Frank, his brother Herbert and his sister Margaret how to paint.  For further information click here.
	“Through hardships to the stars“, “A rough road leads to the stars” or “To the stars through difficulties“. These three sayings are translations of the Latin phrase: “Per Aspera ad Astra”. This is also the title of a painting by Karl Wilhelm Diefenbach, which is held within the Stadtmuseum, Hadamar collection. For further information click here.
	English Classicist painter, Herbert James Draper was born in London in 1863,  the son of a jeweler, Henry Draper. Herbert was educated at Bruce Castle School in Tottenham and later at the Royal Academy. During 1888-1892 he visited Rome and Paris, having won the Royal Academy Gold Medal and Traveling Studentship in 1889.For further information click here.
	I first came across this perhaps three years ago, and it still runs; although tagged over in part. Its beauty and magnificence is so spectacular, that I feel it is almost better than the original version which is on display in The Louvre, in Paris. The original work “Young Male Nude Seated Beside the Sea” (1836),  is by the French artist Hippolyte Flandrin –  (born 23 March 1809 – and died 21 March 1864) . In more recent years, the photographer Robert Mapplethorpe (amongst many), has also paid homage to this work. This particular version of Flandrin’s work (see left), is “reversed” and is featured on the front cover of the Wordsworth Classic Erotica novel: “Teleny: or the Reverse of the Medal,” from (1883) by Anon. (Although often attributed to having been written by Oscar Wilde). The original version of this tale had a limited publication span of 200 copies. For further information click here.
	Nicolas Bernard Lépicié was born on the 16th of June in 1735, to husband and wife team of engravers; it is probably of little surprise that the young Nicolas would turn to art. He studied under Carle Vanloo, until his acceptance into the Parisian Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. For further information click here.
	Liverpool Resurgent’ is the name of this statue by Sir Jacob Epstein, born in New York on 10th November 1880 and died 19th August 1959. This statue used to sit over the entrance of the former Lewis’ department store in Liverpool. For further information click here.
	Daniel Maclise was born 108 years ago in Cork, Ireland, on 25th January 1806. He went to the Cork School of Art and after graduation spent most of his life as a painter and illustrator working in England, after his arrival in July 1827. It was here that he entered the Royal Academy and the following year he was awarded one of the highest prizes open to students. He became good friends with fellow Irishman Thomas Moore. One of his most famous is entitled “The Origin of the Harp” (1842). For further information click here.
	Here we have, Herve Morvan’s Scandale (aka “Scandalous ca. 1950 poster) of an embarrassed sandwich man who, by wearing the sandwich board, looks as though he is wearing women’s underwear. Ooh la la! For further information click here.
	Pulp fiction, penny dreadfuls, dime novels and their ilk have entertained many a consumer of the day. They were cheap, they were there to entertain, they were not there to represent literacy or provide historical reference, but they did indicate the ‘norms’ of the times and hastily referenced the difference between ‘acceptable’ and ‘unacceptable’ behaviors as inferenced within this genre. The image above is from “The Private Life of a Strip-Tease Girl” (1959) by Cal Anton, with cover illustration by Carl Mueller For further information see my post.
	Rosaleen Norton aka “Roie” (born 2nd October 1917 in New Zealand – died 5th December 1979), grew up in Sydney, and adopted a Bohemian lifestyle and overwhelming interest in the occult. Her youthful fascination with the occult blossomed into a lifelong passion and this combined with her sexually-charged artwork attracted bitter condemnation from the conservative establishment. Over the years her passion for the occult intensified and this was reflected in her artwork. Living in the cosmopolitan area of Kings Cross, in Sydney, she led her own coven of witches. For further information click here.
	Romanian painter, Theodor Pallady was born in Iaşi, on April 11, 1871. From 1887-1889, Pallady studied engineering at the Dresden University of Technology as well as studying art with Erwin Oehme, who, recognising his artistic abilities suggested he continue this in Paris. For further information click here.
	The inset for this post is from Sax Rohmer’s novel, “Sinister Madonna,” which features, Sumuru: a female variation on Fu Manchu. The cover work is by Charles Ashford Binger; a British-born painter and commercial artist who found some success in Hollywood illustrating film posters and pulp novel covers over a period stretching from the 1920s to the 1970’s. For further information see m original post.
	The above portrait by Tintoretto is of Veronica Franco  (1546-1591); a Renaissance Venetian “cortigiana onesta” (intellectual courtesan and poet).  In its day, the Venetian courtesans were among the most educated and liberated of European women.  The daughter of a former “cortigiana onesta“, Veronica was trained to use her natural assets and abilities and even had a brief liaison with Henry III, King of France. Apart from her fabled eroticism, Veronica was celebrated for her artistic and poetic talents. For further information click here.
	Henri-Marie-Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa was born 150 years ago on 24 November, 1864. He was a Post-Impressionist French painter, print-maker, draughtsman and illustrator whose immersion in the colourful and theatrical life of Paris in the late 1800s yielded a collection of exciting, elegant and provocative images of the modern and sometimes decadent life of those times. His art reflected the enriched world in which he lived in, which included the many dance halls brothels, bars and theaters of the time, in Paris. These are often portrayed with a humorous and ironic eye and not without a sense of pity.
	Believe it or not, there is a tambourine featured within this image. (see left). Can you detect who is holding it? Regardless of whether you notice it or not this illustration by Thomas Rowlandson is entitled: “The Tambourine.“  Click here for more information.
	Scottish artist and illustrator, Sir William Russell Flint was born in Edinburgh on 4th April, 1880.  Although being mostly known for his watercolor paintings of women; Flint also worked in oils, tempera and print-making. For further information see original post.
	For the composition of Aby Altson’s “The Golden Age,” Altson had some degree of difficulty trying to obtain permission from land proprietors in France, in order to paint nudes in the open.  Eventually he succeeded and took his models to a remote and rarely visited area on the island of Norimontir, off the south-west coast of France. For further information see my original post.