Renaissance erotica and icons of erotic art #49, #50, #51 and #52

After ending a brief survey of medieval erotica, I’ve come upon Renaissance erotica, where I must tell you of Venus and Nini.

Sleeping Venus (c. 1510) Giorgione

Venus of Urbino (1538) by Titian
Venus and Nini are two terms of art to denote the female nude, the first is divine, the second is a mere mortal. They are [...]

May 2nds

Catherine the Great @280 [1]
Catherine the Great (May 2, 1729 – November 17, 1796), — sometimes referred to as an epitome of the “enlightened despot” — reigned as Empress of Russia for 34 years. She cultivated Voltaire, Diderot and D’Alembert — all French philosophes encyclopedists who later cemented her reputation in their writings. Her collection [...]

Jean Marembert, and, Icon of Erotic Art #41

Nude (c.1930) by Jean Marembert [source]
Icon of erotic art #41
Au carrefour étrange uncovered a 1947 edition of Petrus Borel’s Champavert [1] and presents us with the exceptional work of Jean Marembert.
Jean Marembert (1904-1968) was a French artist who is tangentially connected to such people as Louis Cattiaux, Jean Crotti, Suzanne Valadon, Kees Van Dongen, Paul [...]

Introducing Alva Bernadine and icon of erotic art #39

Introducing Alva Bernadine and icon of erotic art[1] #39
Back in the day, when I was still editing Jahsonic.com, I had amassed a list of erotic photographers I thought were important. The list consisted of Alva Bernadine, Gilles Berquet, Guy Bourdin, Steve Diet Goedde, Nan Goldin, David Hamilton, Irina Ionesco, Richard Kern, Doris Kloster, Eric Kroll, [...]

Bernini @410

Gian Lorenzo Bernini @410

Pushing against Pluto’s face Proserpina’s hand creases his skin,

while his fingers sink into the flesh of his victim.

Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini (December 7, 1598 – November 28, 1680) was a Italian sculptor and architect of 17th century Rome, best-known for his marble sculptures the Ecstasy of St Theresa[1] and the Beata Ludovica Albertoni[2].
Update: [...]

The Miraculous Milk of the Virgin (IoEA#28)

It’s time for icon of erotic art #28.
“The Miraculous Milk of the Virgin”[1] is a photograph by Bettina Rheims published in her collection I.N.R.I.. The photo was taken in March 1997 and exhibited at the Galerie Jérôme de Noirmont.
Galerie Jérôme de Noirmont[2] is a French art gallery located in Paris. Currently at the gallery [...]

IoEA #25: man’s most honest organ

“Sensitive but resilient, equally available during the day or night with a minimum of coaxing, it has performed purposefully if not always skillfully for an eternity of centuries, endlessly searching, sensing, expanding, probing, penetrating, throbbing, wilting, and wanting more. Never concealing its prurient interest, it is man’s most honest organ.” –Thy Neighbor’s Wife, (1981), Gay [...]

Icons of erotic art #24, or a pale, tender rose-tint almost like that of her cheeks

Clemente Susini’s wax Venus

“Venus (or a Nymph) Spied On by Satyrs” by Poussin

In a recent post [1], on a perceived likeness between a Poussin painting and a wax anatomical model, Evan, a friend of Morbid Anatomy notes:

“I was taking in the wonderful “Poussin and Nature: Arcadian Visions[2],” exhibition currently up at the Metropolitan Museum, when [...]

Icons of erotic art #22

Study of a Seated Nude Woman Wearing Mask (c. 1865-66) by Thomas Eakins
This drawing by American artist Eakins is a testament to the aphrodisian qualities of sensory deprivation. Central to this drawing are the breasts, ripe and heavy, surreal and unreal, proof that the most beautiful of women are not to be found in real [...]

About the male and female gaze

See male gaze, female gaze

Following the comments of Lichanos on Icons of erotic art #21, here is some info about the concept of the gaze in visual culture.
The concept of gaze (often also called the gaze or, in French, le regard), in analysing visual culture, is one that deals with how an audience views [...]