This volume is a romp through the portrayal of love and sexuality in art. The book surveys Western artworks illustrating more or less explicitly delicate or amorous subjects.
"Many famous artworks of the Italian Renaissance were made to celebrate love, marriage, and family. They were the pinnacles of a tradition, dating from early in the era, of commemorating betrothals, marriages, and the birth of children by commissioning extraordinary objects - maiolica, glassware, jewels, textiles, paintings - that were often also exchanged as gifts. This volume is the first comprehensive survey of artworks arising from Renaissance rituals of love and marriage and makes a major contribution to our understanding of Renaissance art in its broader cultural context. The impressive range of works gathered in these pages extends from birth trays painted in the early fifteenth century to large canvases on mythological themes that Titian painted in the mid-1500s. Each work of art would have been recognized by contemporary viewers for its prescribed function within the private, domestic domain."--BOOK JACKET.
Boudoir-hopping through the centuries, author/journalist Nigel Cawthorne extends the legacy of the ancient sexual arts to a new generation with this stimulating and instructive compendium of erotic art and literature. 180 full-color illus. 20 b&w illus.
Carefully curated and beautifully packaged erotic art through the ages – 200 works from the world's most important artists. This carefully curated and beautifully packaged book spotlights nearly 200 works from the world's most important artists, including Titian, Paul Cézanne, Picasso, Andy Warhol, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Edgar Degas, Edvard Munch, Georgia O'Keeffe, Jackson Pollock, Lucian Freud, Louise Bourgeois, Francis Bacon, David Hockney, Gerhard Richter, Cecily Brown, Anselm Kiefer, George Condo, and Anish Kapoor. With its chronological organization, The Art of the Erotic provides insights into human sexuality throughout the ages.
This intimate collection of two millennia of erotic art takes a fresh look at the genre, offering provocative insights into what distinguishes the merely titillating from the masterful.
Over 130 of the greatest depictions of the kiss in art are accompanied by insightful commentary in this handsome volume. The depiction of the kiss has held special significance throughout the history of art, from classical antiquity to the present. A symbol of erotic passion or maternal love but equally of betrayal and death, the kiss represents one of the greatest legendary motifs. Spanning the ages and the globe, this volume explores the emphasis placed by certain cultures and artists on "the meeting of lips." From Hayez’s medieval kissers to Klimt’s iconic symbolist painting, and from Ingres’s Francesca and Paolo to Picasso’s ethereal cubist couple, this book explains the passionate undertones of the world’s greatest masterpieces. The evocative text is illustrated by works ranging from Hokusai to Cindy Sherman via Mary Cassat, Brancusi, and Lichtenstein.