Rodin’s erotic depictions of women in drawings, sculptures, plasters, bronzes, and marbles The theme of the erotic is ever present in the work of August Rodin, both in his sculptures and in his many drawings. Throughout his career, he depicted sexual desire in all its facets, in every mood from delicate innocence to frank intensity, bearing witness to an endless fascination with the flesh and a love of the female form. Taking a chronological path through Rodin's career, this is an intimate approach to the many faces of sex and sensuality in his body of work and in the society within which his art was forged, from mythological portrayals of passion to the context of contemporary erotic literature. The topics featured include his relationships with women, his friendships with poets and artists, and the controversy that his sculptures caused in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when French society was marked by a hypocritical disparity between public morals and private desires. In a 1916 interview, Rodin spoke out against his critics: "They protest against the immorality of my work, they criticize me for loving women…. But they are incapable of understanding what I do." This witty and insightful book, packed with beautiful images, will shed new light on this intriguing aspect of the artist's world and his skill at capturing the fleeting nature of pleasure in timeless art.

This classic exploration of erotic themes in Rodin's sculptures and drawings offers stunning visual and textual insight into the artist's work and ideas. More than 350 superbly reproduced images of selected sculptures and late drawings by Rodin document his obsession with sexuality, revealing the countless ways he depicted the subject: as a threat and challenge, but also as the source of all creative inspiration and passion. Augmenting these illustrations, ten essays by leading scholars explore the ramifications of Eros in Rodin's work, including such topics as the nature of the fragment, Rodin's relationship to the model, his religiosity, and his influence on his contemporaries as well as on future artists. In word and image, this volume deepens our understanding of the nineteenth century's premier sculptor.

Superbly reproduced images of selected sculptures and late drawings by Rodin document his obsession with sexuality, revealing the countless ways he depicted the subject: as a threat and challenge, but also as the source of all creative inspiration and passion. Augmenting these illustrations are essays by leading scholars exploring the ramifications of eros in Rodin's work and his influence on his contemporaries as well as on future artists. In word and image, this volume deepens our understanding of nineteenth century's premier sculptor.

I have drawn all my life. I began withdrawing: I have never stopped drawing.--Auguste Rodin

The series Erotic Art is some kind of History of Art of Pleasure: an erotic history of human race. These books outline the hidden history of erotic art from Egypt's Golden Empire to present day, translating our sexual fantasies into master works of art."Eros, the God of Love, is considered a principle of Creation: sprung from the original Chaos, he is vital element of the world. Defining erotic art is difficult since perceptions of both what is erotic and what is art vary. The distinction between erotic art and pornography may lie in intent and message; erotic art would be items intended only as pieces of art; Pornography may also use art tools, but is mainly intended to arouse one sexually. This Art Book with Foreword and annotated reproductions by Jessica Findley contains 90 selected drawings and paintings of Katsushika Hokusai Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Francois Boucher, Titian, Peter Paul Rubens, Jean-Antoine Watteau, Jules Joseph Lefebvre, Leon Bonnat, Johann Heinrich Fuseli, Eugene Ferdinand Victor Delacroix, Gustave Courbet, Toulouse-Lautrec, Edward Burne-Jones, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Francesco Paolo Hayez, John William Godward, Auguste Rodin and Egon Schiele.

The arts: general issues.

This title is published to accompany the exhibition exploring the relationship between the photography of Robert Mapplethorpe and classical art, held at the Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin, July 24th - October 17th, 2004.