Eroticism and Art

From the surreal eroticism of Salvador Dali to the kitsch eroticism of Jeff Koons, erotic art has always inflamed opinion and, even today, such images are considered provocative, dangerous, and unwelcome in the public sphere.
Now Alyce Mahon, the feisty Irish art historian, takes us on an imaginative and engaging tour of erotic art in all its forms, including painting, sculpture, video art, installation, performance art, and photography. Mahon explores eroticism from its most romantic to its most explicit: from
Impressionist Paris where the naked body signaled the rise of a new, modern world, to the contemporary scene where artists use eroticism to address the politics of race, gender, and sexual orientation. The book examines some of the key movements and moments in modern art history: from the birth of
Realism with Courbet in Paris, to the Surrealist subversion of taboo, to Nazi propaganda's use of the heroic nude, to the soft-porn of Pop art, to the vogue for carnality in contemporary art in Los Angeles, Paris, and London. Indeed, Mahon provides a concise history of art in the twentieth century
through the lens of eroticism, offering original insights into works of art that do not sit easily within popular notions of taste and that have provoked controversy and calls for censorship. Her discussion includes the work of such European and American artists as Egon Schiele, Hans Bellmer, Robert
Mapplethorpe, Nancy Goldin, Orlan, Franco B, and Annie Sprinkle.
With over a hundred illustrations, including sixty-five in full color, here is a strikingly written and stimulating history of eroticism in modern Western art.

Author: Alyce Mahon
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 03/01/2007
Pages: 336
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.64lbs
Size: 9.19h x 6.65w x 0.78d
ISBN: 9780192807335

About the Author

Alyce Mahon was educated at Trinity College Dublin and the Courtauld Institute in London. She is now Lecturer in Modern Art at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Trinity College Cambridge. She specializes in twentieth-century art and critical theory, with a particular research emphasis on Surrealism, French art and politics, and performance art.



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