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From the beginning, artistic creation was mostly a craft. In other words: he who pays the piper calls the tune. It was needed to create art in a way that customers appreciated. However, there were few defiant artists who listened to their muses and followed their ideas and visions about the world. They were demolishing borders of European´s middle and higher classes´ limited (voluntarily or involuntarily) taste.
Why did it happen that normally pictured nudity or even penetration became something forbidden, outrageous, daring? How is it possible that squirting was once normal skillfulness of women and we can find pictures of it on the ancient Rome frescoes but whole generations of our parents and grandparents knew nothing about it? How is it possible that on paintings or gold plated frames, there are breasts, often squeezed by a man´s hand, small and big penises, rape, two women altogether or bare vaginas and colored photography of these old items would be unacceptable today anywhere in the public area, in hotel or office? Nakedness is natural as well as sexual intercourse. Without these things, none of us would be here.
Christianity is responsible as it brought the promises of light and order to Europe tossed with wars. And with it, it brought strict restrictions and obedience demanded under the threat of death. But under the mask of modesty, lust and licentiousness were thriving. It took centuries until ordinary people have realized that the system is rotten. With progress in agriculture and the arrival of the 18th century industrial revolution, life was easier for the people. Now, it was not only about statute labor. People had time thinking about themselves, about the world. With the gradual easing of corsets as well as moral, also painters plucked up the courage. Even there were more of them, we will introduce a few of the most important of them.
L’Origine du monde | Gustave Courbet
The Origin of the World is controversial and very realistic paintings of French painter Gustav Courbet (1819-1877) from 1866, which aroused both the artistic community and police. The painting was forbidden for a long time. And the most acute question was: who’s that hairy pussy is? The most promising possibility that it was his 23 years old mistress (she was red) was refused. Recently, it was discovered that this world-famous crotch belonged to a mistress of one diplomat. French historian Claude Shopp read letters of Alexander Dumas and in one of them, he has found one mention connected to the famous painting and the ballet dancer Constance Queniaux. She had dark hair and most importantly – she was a mistress of Turkish diplomat Khalil-Bey.
It was Khalil-Bey who ordered the painting and put it into his private collection of erotic paintings. In subsequent years, „The Origin of the World” was traveling among several private collections until 1995, it was bought by Musée d’Orsay in Paris where it can be seen today. Even now, it is sometimes described as pornography – don´t try to use it as your FB profile picture.
„The 19th century pioneer“– as he was called – felt, that he is the one who will really change the world. He said: „I want to change the public taste and the way they watch art.“ He took pink glasses off the romanticism and painted people and things like they really look, human sexuality included. He beat the way for young artists, mainly impressionists like Édouard Manet. They adopted not only his „looking without pink glasses “, but the techniques of painting as well. Smooth contours, so common in his time, were replaced with visible strokes and plastic look of the painting.
Gustave Courbet
World-famous Gustav Klimt was born in Vienna in 1862. Originally, he should become goldsmith and jeweler, same as his father and brothers, but he showed strong drawing talent, so he was sent to the school of decorative arts. At the age of 14, he passed entrance exams easily. A few years later, his works could be seen on arches in Karlovy Vary or walls and ceilings of Vienna´s University. In 1897, Klimt and other same-thinking artists organized an exhibition in which they wanted to introduce the new artistic movement – secession. From this time, the famous poster of Goddess Athena watching a fight between Minotaur and Theseus. Naked hero as a symbol of the new art is winning over the beast with bull´s head (in which some older artists found themselves).
At that time, the poster was considered scandalous. Today, it is considered to be the first protest of Austrian modernists. In the end, Klimt had to cover Theseus´ genitals with a leaf. He made concession to censorship and in return, censors didn´t care about Klimt´s critics who were complaining about the comparison of themselves with Minotaur.
Gustav Klimt | poster
Klimt´s work is accompanied mainly by cute female faces, literally flowing around colorful geometric shapes of both regular and irregular nature. At the first sight, all characters are in unnatural poses, they look like they fall down from height and have broken legs. But at the same time, they are very gentle and fragile. When you absorb all of this, you understand that there is another level in Klimt´s paintings. Klimt´s painting „Virgin“ is an ideal example. In this painting, several graceful women, one intertwined with another. Strange positions of their bodies, significant roughness and honest composition were adopted by Klimt´s most famous student…
Gustav Klimt | Virgin
Egon Schiele. Reclining female nude, 1917
Egon Schiele (1890 – 1918) was painter born by Austrian secession and student of its founder – Gustav Klimt. He had his own specific style based on European secession. He is known for his erotic paintings of extremely young girls who were rotating in his studio and admiring him all the time. However, he was fully devoted to his beloved sister Gertrude. He painted her many times and lived with her also in Český Krumlov. Schiele was just 16 when he passed entrance exams and started to study at Academy of fine arts in Vienna. But he never finished his studies. He left the Academy after three years and with few of his friends from the Academy, he founded so-called Group of the new arts (Neukunstgruppe). They were striving for maximum authenticity without continuity to the tradition and artistic development. Neukunstgruppe said: „it´s the only way for new artist to be himself.“
Although some of the Schiele´s paintings should be considered funny today, in fact they are an expression of admiration of female sexual energy and her power. He put women to the center of an artistic creation – but not in the position typical for nude pictures, but rather in very provocative positions showing something between beauty and ugliness of female physical nature.
Egon Schiele | Woman in Black Stockings
Pablo Picasso | Reclining nude
South Europe will be our nest stop. Young Pablo was born in 1881 († 1973) in Malaga, Spain. In the age of three, his paintings were considered interesting by his family and other people around him? He was natural-born genius. His complete name was Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso but he has chosen his mother´s name Picasso as he considered it more interesting than ordinary Ruiz, his father´s name. Moreover, his father was also an artist. He conquered the Academy in the age of 13 (3 years earlier than Schiele) Altogether with Georges Braque, Picasso is considered to be the founder of cubism characterized by the representation of the object from all the sides, but in wholeness.
Pablo Picasso series
During his life, he created hundreds of thousands of works, but we will talk about one of his last paintings which was created under the French sun, in his studio in Cannes. At the age of 84, he created famous 347 Series, consisting of the same number of individual graphics, during 7 months! For the comparison: it took Rembrandt all of his career to make 300 similar works. The artist himself said that „if I paint, I watch my models hour by hour and I´m thinking about many crazy things. That´s my way of writing a story.“ At least twenty of his works were widely discussed and the ban of their exhibition was considered.“ But Picasso´s popularity was monstrous – he was one of those artists who were alive at the time they became popular – and that´s why he was able to break the borders and his works were exhibited in Paris, Chicago and New York.
Toyen | Black Paradise
In the end, we will have a woman. On top of that, she was Czech. Toyen (her own name was Marie Čermínová, 1902–1980) is considered to be the first and only lady of the Czech interwar period avant-garde group Děvetsil. Her pen-name was written once by Jaroslav Seifert on a napkin and given to her. She accepted it. Her works often have erotic accent arousing discussions. Her „Black Paradise“ created a solid fuss. Someone in Prague bought this painting of black people made in 1925 for almost 32 million Czech crowns.
During the First world war, she was manufacturing soup with other workers but after the war, she applied for School of decorative arts and as early as in 1923, she had an exhibition in Prague´s Rudolfinum altogether with her close friend Jindřich Štýrský. This rebellious person, whose paintings are so popular that collectors are able to pay millions for them, was famous for her nonconformist opinions. She refused her civil name, broke family ties and denied traditional women´s role.
Toyen aka Marie Čermínová
She was always hiding her sexual orientation, but she liked male clothes. Inseparable part of her look was also a cigarette, swaying walk and fraternizing almost absolutely with men only. She supported anarchistic movement too. After the occupation, she moved to Paris where she was working with other surrealists at André Breton´s side. André Breton was the founder of this movement which – apart from dadaism – offers the possibility of freeing one´s mind and feeling conflicts via a process of creation. Toyen´s surrealistic paintings are still bewitching and very popular.
It is not important if you like the art of old masters, contemporary art or antiquities, we recommend you to visit the newly opened gallery in the center of Prague – einszwei.
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Let´s explore few movies which worth it. Let´s take a look at what otherwise experienced directors are feared of. Why they do not want to go hard to „it“ and why they are using erotica so frugally? And who was brave enough to cook „one hell of a spicy meal“? Who can add quantity without losing quality? We will try to answer these questions and you will have the chance to choose an inspiration for several interesting evenings…
Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom
While erotic and porn magazines were experiencing a real boom, sex in the movies was still rare. On one side, it was caused by actors and actresses who were reluctant to do something such superficial and most likely compromising. But hesitating directors played the role as well. It´s one thing to publish magazines with pair having sex – no one cares who made it, people just wanted to be home on their sofa and masturbate. Even a book can be published under a pen name and no one except the publisher (sometimes not even him) will know the author of the text. But this is not the case for a movie! We can hardly imagine having a movie poster or a video cassette case without the second most important information about it – the name of an author. Who would represent it on a red carpet? Therefore, no one was brave enough to risk so much. In other fields of art, any vulgar piece of work (book, photography…) is usually seen by a few people and then it is forgotten. But movies have far more reach and almost immediately, it is everywhere, along with the name of its author. That´s why directors were adding little by little and monitoring others.
Some movies considered to be pioneers of the eroticism in the industry are not very interesting from my point of view. For example, Salo, or The 120 Days of Sodom by P.P.Pasolini can be described in many ways, but „sexy“ is not one of those and I would rather forget it completely. Or Richard Linklater´s Before Sunrise – I would put it in the same category as Eat, Pray, Love, there is not much sex in it… It is more about talking and getting know each other. Its content is interesting and the form is imaginative, but it´s not about breaking taboos. Julie Delpy without her bra is the max in this movie. The Graduate by Mike Nichols from 1967 is more or less the same for me. Mrs. Robinson is very charming definitely, but I´m not a big fan of Dustin Hoffman. Also, I want to judge only those movies I´ve seen myself. Because of that, I´ve picked movies that influenced me personally and I´m able to see them again and again without paying attention to critics score.
Let´s travel back in time to 1989. We are in a mountain resort and a small, 9 years old girl is in the room. She is ill so she can´t go skiing, playing or dancing with other kids so she is bored. She feels better because of the medicine, parents are not there so she goes out of her room and sneaks to the cinema. It´s quite late, she is there illegally, and she is surprised (but just a little) by nudity on the screen. It´s Polish movie Sexmission in which two volunteers are frozen but by a mistake, they woke up much later than expected – in a women-only world.
Sexmise
In a third grade, our girl found a friend. Her friend was a very naughty girl and it was this friend who shown our girl a porn movie for the first time. It was a black and white movie on a cassette of her parents – very decent, otherwise. They played it again and again and then, they wanted to find another movie so exciting that causes so pleasant feelings down there. They have found super famous Dirty Dancing by Emile Ardolino and they were endlessly watching the scene in which Patrick Swayze – in the morning after first sex with Jennifer Grey (Have you seen her in any other movie? I have not…) – stands up and you can see his butt. Girls were laughing and trying to dance „the dirty dancing“ as in the movie, just in their panties and undershirts, singing Be my Baby by The Ronettes.
Dirty Dancing
The other two movies with significant influence are usually ignored by the lists of important movies. And most people do not connect them with erotica at all as there is not much of it. Well, it depends. First of these movies gave me the first impulse, the small fire which never died. In fact, it went up in the flames in full power two decades later (see BDSM Techniques of Pleasure). At first, it was Bernard Borderie´s Angélique, but not the first one – not the famous scene with her wet breasts during hanky-panky with Nicolas by the river. I have in mind „Angelique and the Sultan“ movie. Angélique is kidnapped by pirates and put her to lower decks where the worst ragtag is. Loathsome, nasty gang of men in fetters and shackles try to reach her and grab her… It was not about the dirt, but rather about the helplessness. And then there was that scene at the slave market. She has to show everything (to the buyers, not to the viewers). I didn´t care that her breasts could not be seen. Her scared look and displeasure woke up my fantasies – what will the buyer who will pay the big price for her do with her after he brings her to his home? I´ve dreamed that I´m her. At first, other slavegirls will wash me, dress me and adorn me with expensive jewelry, perfume me… and then I will have to patiently wait for the arrival of my new ruler. I envy her. Of course, I did not understand very well what the save market really is about at that time…
Angelique
I´ve felt guilt for the first time when I´ve seen the rape scene in Two Women by Vittorio de Sica. I knew that it is a bad thing – a rape. The situation was not glamorized by jewels or veils. The soldier simply knocked Sophia Loren down to the dirty floor, and that was it. And her crying daughter… But I could not help myself. I liked handsome soldiers as I have a soft spot for southern types with worked-out bodies. I even had a notional proposal for Sophia: what about enjoying it rather than dull resignation? The painful and desperate situation for her, exciting fantasy for me. I did not tell anyone about my fantasies, not even my naughty friend. Rather than that, I was hoping that it was something nobody can see, it will surely disappear, and my mom and dad will love me the same. However, I can see today that both movies indicated clearly the direction my sexual life will move on.
Up to this moment, movies I´ve seen were using only indications of eroticism colored and multiplied by my fantasy. The first director who played it hard was Paul Verhoeven with his Basic Instinct.
Horalka, Sofia Loren
Sharon Stone, Basic Instinct
So we are here, few years passed and 14 years old hippie girl lays on the carpet with twenty or so other kids in an apartment of one´s grandmother. Riders on the Storm by The Doors sounds from the cassette player, cheap wine goes around as well as spirits and a weed. Moo dis great and friendly. They are talking except few pairs, holding their hands bashfully. These two are among them, kissing with tongues but nothing more. Then, the temporary „owner“ of the apartment says that he has a nice movie. „Will we take a look?“ From the beginning, it´s like a sci-fi – glasses with which the detective sees the sperm at the bed, San Francisco (everything American was very cool at that time), luxury, cocaine and… Sharon. Kids stop to drink and smoke, to hold their hands and with eyes stuck to the screen, they guzzle every shot. And then it comes! You know what, right? But they did not have a clue. What!?! It was her pussy?! Seriously? Her hair? WTF!?!
The role was first offered to Kim Basinger, the sex symbol of that time. She was on her peak where other sexy movie shot her – 9 ½ Weeks by Adrian Lyne. She refused and Paul Verhoeven gave the chance to almost unknown but juicy Sharon Stone. I think that Kim tore her hair after the success of Basic Instinct. Sharon was worried but the script quality convinced her. And we all thank for that, Sharon. The movie caused real tsunami. Everyone talked about it. It was extolled as well as considered the junk spoiling young people. But it was huge success all around the world and authors made huge money. Sharon herself was given 11 million dollars (in 1991!).
I have seen this movie many times and I´m enjoying every minute of it every time (not only those two seconds at an interrogation). It´s complicated, super-sexy thriller and also very funny. My favorite quote is from the talk between Michael Douglas´ detective and his therapist:
„What about your drinking?“
„I haven´t drink for two months“
„What about cocaine?“
„Nothing. I´m clear, I need to work. I don´t even smoke.“
„And what´s it like?“
„It sucks“
The Idiots, Lars von Trier
Allow me to tell you few details about this numbers. Two factors connect these movies: they gave me what I was looking for in the movies for a long time: „a good story and a good fuck“. I did not know at all that I will find it in these two movies. Idiots by Lars von Tries caused me the same level of shock as Sharon´s crotch in Basic Instinct. It was screened in the club theater and up to that time, I knew Lars von Trier as an author of psychological movies. His pieces were able to derail me for a long time. But I knew nothing about Idiots, just that I don´t know it and I must see it as Lars was very popular at that time. In fact, I would expect the first movie penis more in Spielberg´s blockbuster than in Idiots. I think that others were in the same situation. We all stretched their necks to see it and we did not believe our eyes! The first penetration on a silver screen! There was a scene with the real sex and then the movie continued like it was the most common thing! I was too shy to look right or left so I did not see the reaction of others. But I was so happy! Hooray, at last! BTW, the movie is often described as a comedy. What what??
It was long waiting after the Idiots. Again. Hey, what´s wrong? I told to myself. Why more filmmakers are not able to do movies in this way. It´s no more taboo, right? I tried to quench the thirst with creative porn. But it was hard to find something interesting with a plot in the pile of pure fucking. But actors usually stayed in their roles 5 minutes at max and went to action. I don´t want to judge porn unfairly, one porn movie helped me to push my sexuality in the right direction (see BDSM Techniques of Pleasure) and with my husband, we used it as an inspiration for long years. But after the maternity period, I´ve desired to feel something like with the Idiots. It came at last. Unexpected as usual…
My friend with whom I do not share my desires took me to see The Handmaiden, thriller by the director Pak-Cchan-uk. I love Asian decor and it was enough for me to agree with seeing it. What a surprise to see two fondling pussies! It was so long that I´ve turned red and starting to wriggle. My friend was calm and eating popcorn. After the movie, we shared our feelings, but no one was commenting on the pussy looking into the camera for a minute or more. You can guess easily that when I came home, I had to wake up my husband with his favorite „medical exam“.
Love, Gaspar Noé
To this point, it was all about seconds or minutes. I´ve seen Love by Gaspar Noé – last but heaviest of all the last three – alone, with no one to be abused by me at sight. The movie will set you to the right rail at the very beginning. It´s absolutely clear what will be going on. The story is so true, beautiful and open to the max. Everything would be great, but only if I like masturbating, which I don´t …
Sure, there were more movies causing certain restlessness in my crotch like Damage by Louis Malle. Jeremy Irons wants her daughter-in-law. And who would blame him as it is Juliette Binoche. But in this case, it was about long preparations, long plucking up the courage and short action in the end. Vibrations down there were not given a chance to gain strength. Something like Joe Wright´s Atonement with irresistible and wild-fragile Keira Knightley in her emerald green clothes with naked back down to the groove… However, the movie was too romantic (the book is much better). I´ve felt the desire altogether with Keira, but without fulfillment, the desire lefts the bitter aftertaste. It is not exciting, it´s sad.
I´ve seen Love recently although Noé made this movie few years ago. It hit me strongly and I still draw an energy from it. But I´m curious what will surprise me next time (do you have any tip, my dear reader?) and I cross my fingers for all brave directors and filmmakers.
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Porn of renaissance, baroque, classicism and romanticism, which irritated the fantasies and caused controversy or outrage, is today interesting and exciting only due to its timeless beauty. These are the most beautiful and most famous nude works in the history of painting.
(Musee d Orsay, Paříž, Francie)
In 1865, the Olympia caused a real turmoil in otherwise frivolous France. Victorine Meurent was standing (or rather laying) as a model of modern Venus to Monet. For her slight body, she was nicknamed La Crevette (The Shrimp). Manet´s favorite model was good in painting herself and she even exhibited her art in prestigious Parisian salons. The seductive La Crevette is known also for even more famous and scandalous painting called “The Luncheon on the Grass“.
(Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence)
Happy beauty, proud of her nakedness and sensuality, is one of Tizian´s greatest pieces. He took his inspiration in works of his renaissance predecessors, Michelangelo and Raffaelo. For a long time, it was a subject of many debates, to find out who is the beauty resting on the picture in such a seductive way. Tips were on Venice´s courtesans as well as duchesses. But according to art historians, the Venus of Urbino does not depict anyone specific.
(Museo del Prado, Madrid)
The word Maja depicted the girl of loose morals from lower classes of Spanish society and provoking by her provocative behavior and noticeable clothes. When Goya painted Maja, the tsunami of outrage was raised, especially among the catholic church. It even pushed him to the inquisition court. Church officials wanted him to cover her nudity. He refused and he painted identical painting on which the Maja is clothed. Naked Maja has, therefore, her twin – Clothed Maja.
(private collection of the Rau Foundation, Cologne)
Lascivious pose of Coubert´s Bacchante refers to both Greek mythology in which so-called maenads (or mads), delirious female companions of the god Dionysus (Bakcha) were organizing wild orgies and indulging ecstatic parties with centaurs, Pans, Satyrs or nymphs, and renaissance nude paintings, especially Correggio´s painting “Venus, Satyr and Amor”.
(private collection)
Spanish artist Luis Ricardo Falero, Duke of Labranzano, was specialized in mythological, oriental and fantasy motives. He was able to work the magic of naked bodies belonging to witches preparing for sabbath or Faust´s obscene dreams. His dreams were deeply pervaded by an interest in astronomy and female beauty, to which he attributed magical and a little bit dangerous effect.
Arabian writings on the painting mean „He who took drugs, the intoxication of death made this truth appear“. It is a paraphrase of one verse from the Quran. However, it is different: „And the intoxication of death will bring the truth; that is what you were trying to avoid “. Falero left the last words out, and added „drugs“. With this, he changed the meaning of the verse completely.
French painter, educator and theoretician Joseph Lefebvre painted beautiful women, both naked and clothed. Odalisque, who stimulated his fantasy and forced him to create, is sprawling in the sultan´s palace and resting. Odalisks were slavegirls serving to sultan´s wives. The term comes from the Turkish word „odalik“, which means chambermaid. If she was able to sing, dance and have sex, she could become a concubine. A lot of them worked in a harem and if they proved their abilities or gave birth to a son, they could even become one of the sultan´s wives.
The baroque equivalent of Playboy poster and the sexiest butt of western art – it is the famous painting of Rokeby Venus or The Toilet of Venus. It became famous also because of a brutal attack on the art. Venus with the dream body was cut in two, with the butcher´s knife. The attacker on Velazquez´s 17th-century masterpiece was Mary Richardson, the suffragette who damaged the famous painting in 1914. Richardson was Canadian by her origin and she was not jealous on Venus´ beauty. With her action, she wanted to draw attention to police treatment of suffragette movement´s chief, Emmeline Pankhurst. This lady declared that it is legitimate to attack the state property when needed to achieve the goals of the movement. Mary Richardson, nicknamed Butcher Mary, spent 6 months in jail because of her action.
The Bathers painting is not impressionist at first sight, but still, it retains fleeting moment when one of the bathing beauties playfully threatens the other to splash her with water. The almost sculptural portrayal of bodies and sparkling country reflects the tradition of French art of the 17th and 18th centuries.
Renoir worked on this painting for three years. Only after that time, he was satisfied with it. The preparatory work involved two fully-fledged paintings of models and many preparatory paintings for all figures. Instead of appreciation, he has got harsh criticism for the change of his style. Renoir was turned down and promised himself that he won´t dedicate such a time to any of his future works.
Paul Gauguin was almost obsessed with Eduard Manet´s Olympia (see above). He had a copy with him all the time. In all his works, he paraphrased Olympia many times. However, as an only clean portrayal of ideal version of female beauty, he considered his own Black Olympia, known also as Te Arij Vahine, King´s Wife or Woman with Mangos, which he painted in 1896, in a year when his syphilis fully erupted. All the others, with Manet´s Olympia at the cutting edge, were too obscene for him. He experienced a similar 180-degree u-turn with love to his own wife. First, he loved her, then hated her.
The position of the red color is equally bizarre. Gaugin used it on the same places where Jack the Ripper put organs of one of his victims – Mary Jane Kelly (under the head, on the sides, and to her legs).
(Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Coventry)
Lady Godiva, wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and due to a legend, she freed the city of Coventry from the fine which could ruin it. Her husband wanted it from the city officials, and it was his condition that Godiva will go through the city, naked, clothed only in her beautiful, long red hair. All thepeople of Coventry had to stay at their homes and were forbidden to look at her. Both sides kept their promises. Citizens of Coventry stayed behind the walls of their homes, spared Godiva the feeling of embarrassment and her husband lowered their taxes. Later, the Peeping Tom, who looked at her and turned blind, was added to the legend.
This legend calls for its artistic impression. John Collier handled it in a very suggestive way. Several riding sculptures were made as well. One of those is right in the center of Coventry. As the Prague citizens have their St. Wenceslas, people of Coventry have a naked bronze heroine.
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