Erotic Art

There's some Velasquez, da Vinci, Rodin, Courbet, Goya, and a few others in there from other recent centuries. Mostly, though, the artwork is from the century where art moved beyond just representation. The artist's personal impressions took the place of literal rendering that photography had recently claimed for its own. As a result, the renderings cover the whole space that erotic experience roams, skipping only the regions that some unusual few (very few) inhabit. The imagery covers an incredible range, from Dali's photorealistic faux to Tom of Finland-style comic-book smut. Paintings, mechanisms, performance, and some creations that defy easy categories, they're all here. The editor's commentary adds historical notes and context. Really, though, this is about the imagery itself. Thre reproductions are good, even if they don't match the highest standards of this year's printing technology. What matters, though, is not the book, but you. How do you respond - and is that the response you wanted to have? Although it avoids the outre, it will challenge many viewers. But what better way to be challenged, than at home, by oneself, and with a warm cup of coffee to soften any hard edges.. -- wiredweird

This book has a decent collection of erotic artwork. What I would consider as art would be "expression". Unfortunately there are a couple of examples which I think would not qualify as art but as porn. For example, a photo of nothing except showing the unification of the male and female organs----that does not express anything.This book does not show erotic art of various cultures; it shows only examples from the West. So if you are looking for oriental, Japanese or Indian, etc. examples of erotic art, you won't find it here.On the whole, this book is reasonably good in its choice of examples and the images are clear. I would give this book a "B" grade....I would like to point out that any good erotic art book is NEVER meant for children.

I bought this book because I thought it would be an interesting read on an art topic that gets little honest coverage. It contains a ton of erotic pieces of art. Many of these works are beautiful and very well done, but there are several that border on straight up pornography. This book is definitely not appropriate for young children to look at. B+