Western art has a tradition of depicting the idealized nude, and works such as Michaelangelo’s David or Titan’s Venus of Urbino are unlikely to raise any eyebrows. However, a new book by Phaidon,
The Art of the Erotic, includes ten head-scratching artworks.
Sylvia Sleigh
Sylvia Sleigh’s career as a painter was fueled by her long-term relationship with writer and art critic Lawrence Alloway. They had a complex and intense personal dynamic, sharing their creative fantasies and working on separate floors of the same brownstone. Sleigh was a fierce feminist and was an active member of the feminist movement.
In her early years, Sleigh’s work was marginalized. Women artists were unpopular, and realistic portraits were unfashionable. Sleigh’s work gained momentum in the 1970s, when she began exhibiting in commercial galleries and woman-run co-operative spaces. She remained active through the 1980s and received the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant in 1985.
Sylvia Fuseli
Sylvia Fuseli’s paintings show a world of sexual intercourse that is deeply rooted in nineteenth-century eroticism. In a painting entitled “Symplegma”, for example, a male and two women share an intimate relationship with a third, a woman who serves him as his female servant. This is a striking contrast to the repressed and stifling depictions of women in earlier Western Art. It was part of a wider libertine movement that originated in the eighteenth century in France. It was during this time that erotic etchings were widely available.
Fuseli met Sophia Rawlins while attending a Society of Artists exhibition in 1788. She was an eccentric woman who loved fashion and hair. She posed for over 150 portraits by Fuseli. Fuseli used this time to paint her wife in erotic scenes. However, after her husband died, she destroyed these works.
Nobuyoshi Araki
Known for his provocative and shocking depictions of women in revealing poses, Nobuyoshi Araki has sparked heated debates about the fine line between art and pornography. His work has been described as brilliant and conceptual, and by critics as “misogynistic porn.” Others have lauded his voyeuristic style.
One of Araki’s most famous works is a series of black and white photos of women in intimate settings, including intimate scenes in Tokyo sex clubs. He also specializes in erotic photos and has published more than 500 photobooks.
Nobuyoshi Araki’s Erotos
Japanese artist Nobuyoshi Araki has spent his career elevating eroticism. His Erotos series, which first came out in 1993, features intimate and shocking scenes of sexuality. The series also features everyday objects like an open oyster and a wilting sunflower.
In his “Erotos” series, the artist juxtaposes intimate scenes of sexual activity with mundane details of everyday life. The series is a hymn to the eroticized everyday. The intimate details of women’s bodies are revealed in a playful and subversive manner.
Manet’s Olympia
Manet’s Olympia was a sensation when it first appeared at the Paris Salon in 1865. Although conservative critics criticized the work as being immoral and vulgar, critics such as Emile Zola praised it as one of Manet’s greatest masterpieces. The work took inspiration from works by Titian and Giorgione. But many critics felt the painting was too overtly sexual, and argued that it was a violation of modesty.
The nude Olympia in Manet’s painting is a notable exception. The 1860s French public associated Olympia with prostitution. She is a fully-dressed maid with an aggressive gaze, ornaments of wealth such as pearl earrings, an oriental shawl, and a cast-off slipper. In addition to her clothing, her black ribbon is another distinguishing feature of this painting, as it subverts our instinctive sense of the woman’s sex. Titian’s Venus of Urbino (1538) had a similar image, but the woman in Manet’s painting wore a different costume.
Salvador Dali’s The Great Masturbator
The Great Masturbator is one of the most iconic works by Salvador Dali. This series of sexual sketches from 1929 is considered one of his early masterpieces. It was created during the surrealist era and is now on display at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid. The series is full of Dali’s themes and imagery, but it is also extremely disturbing.
The painting features a woman emerging from the right of Dali’s head, her mouth reaching toward the man’s crotch. Her forearms are blood-red, and she is bare-faced and bare-chested. She is holding a piece of meat, which could represent the dead, entrophy, or the human race’s insatiable appetite. On her back is an elongated phallic shape. The artist uses phallic shapes to represent the weak nature of society.
David Hare’s The Blue Room
David Hare’s The Blue Room sexual sketch comedy is a hilarious, satirical exploration of men and women. Its title refers to its origins, a German play called Reigen which originally featured unprintable sexual sketches by author Arthur Schnitzler. The play centers on two actors playing five characters, each playing a different sexual partner. The final scene involves a man and a prostitute performing a sexual transaction.
The Blue Room is a witty and sophisticated vehicle that stars two highly attractive performers. It stars a former Australian-American film star and a British stage leading man. However, unlike Schnitzler’s work, The Blue Room is more Hare than Schnitzler.
