Mutual masturbation for International Masturbation Day

Well, there isn't such a thing as mutual masturbation, of course, but these two nineteenth century ladies seem happy enough.  Today it is hot and sunny in the South East of England so I am going over to my particular friend Angela's house for skinny dipping with her and her girlfriend, J.  The plan is that we all then perform for each other, in celebration!

I Modi 2: Alcibiade et Glycere after Agostino Carracci and Giulio Romano

Here is the second engraving from the book of erotic sonnets I Modi, published in 1520.  As I noted in my post on the first of these, they were based on paintings by Giulio Romano, as engraved by Marcantonio Raimondi then reconstructed by Agostino Carracci and reworked by Jacques Joseph Coiny in 1798.

The other engravings in the series all relate to legendary or historical lovers but while Alcibiade was an Athenian statesman and general in the fifth century BC, Glycere was a Greek courtesan in the fourth century BC.  Their depiction as a couple is, therefore, pure fantasy with no mythical or historical precedent.  It is merely an excuse to show an athletic man leaping into the breach of a rather surprised looking woman.

Two women, one in black stockings

Here is a lovely photograph dating from around the end of the nineteenth century or the beginning of the twentieth century.  Anonynous, of course, as was typical for the period, it is a nice enough composition but is made by the pale eyes of the woman on the left looking directly at the camera.  "This is just lovely.' she appears to be thinking, while her companion concentrates on the job in hand.

Tenndresse from Les Chansons de Bilitis by Georges Barbier

This lovely illustration is by French artist Georges Barbier (1882-1932). Barbier didn't have his first exhibition until he was 29 years old but it was a great success and led to a career doing book, magazine and fashion illustrations. He also worked on theatrical set designs and costumes, including for the Folies Bergère, as well as designing glass and jewellery. He died, comparatively young, at the age of 50. 

These pictures come from a 1922 edition of Les Chansons de Bilitis by Pierre Louÿs. This work consisted of 143 prose poems with a lesbian theme which Louÿs claimed were translated from the works of an ancient Greek female poet and courtesan called Bilitis, who was a contemporary of Sappho. At the time they were first published, in 1894, they were accepted as translations of genuine ancient texts but in fact they were all created by Louÿs inspired by an encounter with a dancing girl in Algeria. In fact the dancing girl in question, Meriam ben Atala, even received a dedication as 'MbA' in the book. 

Its theme was controversial, not least because his treatment of lesbians is non-judgemental and sympathetic, whereas most lesbian characters in French literature had been portrayed in a less positive manner. Baudelaire (who was the subject of a censorship trial in 1857 for his work Les Fleurs du Mal, over lesbian themes) had referred to them as "damned women". Many books which tried to address lesbian themes or had lesbian scenes were banned in France in the second half of the nineteenth century. 

Louÿs got away with it by his erudite, sensuous and elegant writing and the fact that people believed that they were reading a translation of a genuine ancient text, with historical distance making the whole thing acceptable. The same applied to his novel, Aphrodite, published two years later and also featuring lesbian characters in Ancient Greece, 

The first illustration in this post accompanies the following text from the poem Tendresse: 

Ferme doucement tes bras, comme une ceinture, 

sur moi. Ô touche, ô touche ma peau ainsi! 

Ni l’eau ni la brise de midi ne sont plus 

douces que ta main. 

Aujourd’hui chéris-moi, petite soeur, c’est 

ton tour. Souviens-toi des tendresses que je 

t’ai apprises la nuit dernière, et près de moi 

qui suis lasse agenouille-toi sans parler. 

Close your arms gently, like a belt, 

on me. O touch, O touch my skin so! 

Neither the water nor the midday breeze are not anymore 

as sweet as your hand. 

Today cherish me, little sister, it is 

your turn. Remember the tenderness 

Taught you last night, and get close to me 

Who is tired, kneel down without speaking. 

The wonderful Art Nouveau illustrations by Barbier complement the text perfectly. 

The excited voyeur

I like to know as much about the artists of pictures posted here as I can discover, which is why, unlike some similar blogs, I don't just post pictures,   It is the nature of erotic art, however, especially in the nineteenth century, that much of it was anonymous and so identification is not always possible.  In the case of this delightful watercolour, I have been unable to find out anything about the painter whatsoever.  The file, sent to me, by my German friend, B, dates it at 1890 (which looks about right from the clothes) and contains the name Franz.  All research has drawn a blank.

It is such fun that I had to post it anyway, as a lady wearing a strap on dildo prepares to take another lady who is falling out of her peignoir.  Observing them from behind a scree is a very excited gentleman who is delicately holding his erection in his elegant white gloves.  Is he just going to watch the show (there is something very theatrical about this - a dressing room, perhaps) or is he planning to take a more active part?  A good time is about to be had by all!

Nymph and Faun by Szinyei Merse Pál (1845-1920)

Here, for Valentine's Day, is a joyfully erotic depiction of a nymph and faun by the Hungarian painter Szinyei Merse Pál.  The faun is entranced by what he has found between the lovely nymph's spread thighs and his goat's penis has responded accordingly.  The nymph, looks equally delighted and, despite the mythological treatment, it says a lot about the joys of a young couple discovering each other's bodies.

Nymph and Faun (sketch) 1868

Amazingly, this picture was painted in around 1867, although it looks more modern. Painted when Szinyei Merse (in Hungary family names come first) was in his early twenties, it is one of a series of pictures he did of nymphs and fauns at the time.  In the others the faun is the dominant subject with the nymph glimpsed in the background.

Nymph and Faun (1868)

The erotic painting was only discovered and authenticated, by one of the artist's family, just over ten years ago.  It was an unusual work to discover in the oeuvre of such an establishment artist in Hungary.

Nymph and Faun (sketch) 1868

Born into an aristocratic family, he took private painting lessons before enrolling in the Akademie der Bildenden Künste München at the age of 19.  The coming of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 saw him move to Genoa, although he returned home in 1873 and only painted occasionally as he had family problems.  For a decade, from 1882, he stopped painting entirely but after a successful exhibition of his work in 1894 he resumed painting and carried on until his death in 1920. He exhibited widely in Europe and the US, became the president of the Hungarian University of Fine Arts and also became a member of parliament.  

Amorous Couple by Nicolas Lancret

This painting by Nicolas Lancret (1690-1743) is in stark contrast to the Fête galante paintings for which he was most famous  Fête galante was a term invented to describe Anotoine Watteau's (1684-1721) paintings of aristocrats in ball or fancy dress clothes disporting themselves in an idealised countryside.

Lancret, who was thrown out of the Académie Royale for bad behaviour, joined the workshop of Watteau's teacher, Claude Gillot,and by the 1720, after the death of Watteau and Gillot, monopolised the fête galante style, eventually producing over 700 paintings.

He died in 1743, at the age fifty three, two years after marrying an eighteen year old.  This picture, while not explicit, has a joyous earthiness about it, as the man pulls up the girl's shift to reveal her plump bottom.  good kissing, too!