Art Nouveau and the Erotic  

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"The erotic nature of many Art Nouveau works is one of the most prevalent features of the style. Nowhere is it more abundantly seen than in small-scale sculptural or decorative arts objects such as ink-wells, carafes, centrepieces, candelabra, lamps and figurines -- the kind of objects that were disseminated widely and could be brought into any middle-class household. The eroticism of these objects is made all the more complex by their utility and domesticity. They often demand physical engagement: furniture or carafes where the handles are naked women that must be grasped; vessels that metamorphosize into women inviting touch; lamps that provocatively pose women in suggestive positions. These erotically charged objects, unlike most sculpture, demand contact." --Art Nouveau and the Erotic (2000) by Ghislaine Wood

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Art Nouveau and the Erotic (2000) is a book by Ghislaine Wood.

Blurb:

The swirling sensuous forms of the Art Nouveau style are synonymous with the erotic. This provocative book, bursting with groundbreaking sensual images, shows how artists and designers from Aubrey Beardsley to Gustav Klimt explored and exploited the idea of the erotic in their creative endeavors.

Ghislaine Wood uses a wide range of paintings, sculpture, ceramics, jewelry, photographs, and more -- many from the superb collections of London's Victoria & Albert Museum -- to illustrate the risque, often shockingly explicit content of many works from a time of sexual license and decadent extravagance. Visually arresting and well-priced, this complement to the main exhibition catalogue is not only for lovers of Art Nouveau but also for the vast audience for books on erotic art.




Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Art Nouveau and the Erotic" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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