JUDGE ME. While the word “judge” could be considered harsh, it is not a word that must always have a negative meaning. All of us make judgments daily. It is human nature, part of survival. When observing erotic art on someone’s wall, it is natural for many to draw some conclusions about that individual. While an individual’s morals or character can not necessarily be judged by the art on their wall, one’s individuality and respect for a woman’s body can certainly be assessed by which works of art adorn their home.

To display tasteful erotica and provocative art in one’s home can actually be a demonstration of appreciation, respect and even reverence towards a woman’s body. What an individual hangs on the walls of their home represents, in a sense, their own perspective. No matter the genre, it is apparent when a particular piece of erotica has been chosen carefully. The effort it took to choose the piece and hang it required contemplation and energy. Investing in art and the motivation behind it. That piece may lend a fresh perspective of their relationship dynamics, or what they prioritize. At the risk of oversimplifying, what one hangs on their wall does indeed express in some measure who they are.

If a collection of erotic art demonstrates an owner’s individuality, it can simultaneously demonstrate their knowledge of what art is as well. The ability to judge a person by the art on their wall applies powerfully when getting a feel for what sort of person they are, in the face of open-minded discussion. As all art forms can be controversial, those who display art (erotic especially) tend to be open to and may even invite hearty and intelligent debate. The judgment can usually safely be made that they are open-minded, understanding, and motivated to educate and be educated in many areas.

The pictured etching done by Picasso poses an unerring example of the power art can wield, as it is certain to ignite lively conversation due to its controversial depiction. The overstated vagina, as well as the large and shady faces of the men viewing it, in contrast to the smaller face of the woman, makes an audacious presentation of the differing societal views of genders. Conversation on a piece such as this can lead to the realms of feminism, respect, and the different powers of gender. Erotic art is not only eye-catching, but it has the potential to encourage types of conversation between people that otherwise may not have taken place. Those who display erotic art in their homes understand this and customarily embrace it.

Conversation and intellectual stimulation begin as a result of viewing erotic art.

The sharing of their own understanding and comprehension of taste and beauty contribute a healthy, cultured perspective to those who have not made such realizations. Indeed, it could be said that collecting erotic art is an intelligent choice for a buyer and a favor to the intellect of those entering their home. It also must be added that one doesn’t require a college degree to appreciate and understand the art of any form.

Another judgment to be made when encountering erotic art in a person’s home is of the sexual perspective of the individual displaying the art, versus our oftentimes sex-saturated society of pornography. To display an erotic, proud depiction of artwork is to embrace sexuality in a fresh and lively measure. There is no shame in portraying a sensuous female form in a respectful and tasteful manner, as the purpose is not pornographic, but thoughtful, sexy and moving. Buyers of erotic art understand that they will be judged by the art on their wall. Their erotica is therefore displayed proudly, inviting the doors of communication, education, and intellect to fling wide.

Art Provocateur Gallery welcomes you to peruse a beautifully curated collection of nude and erotic art from all over the world.

Always one to make waves with his art, Picasso made one of the biggest splashes of his career in 1916, with the debut of a large, provocative canvas at a leading modern art exhibition. His colleagues and critics celebrated the painting as the dawn of Cubism, an innovative painting approach that secured Picasso’s position in the pantheon of artistic greats. While it heralded a new era in artistic ingenuity, it was more importantly also an erotically charged work. Known today as Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907, Museum of Modern Art), this composition depicted a brothel scene filled with nudes.

Picasso invoked erotic themes throughout his career, from tasteful nude studies to more sexually explicit vignettes. During the early years of the twentieth century, the erotic played a particularly significant role in Picasso’s exploration of himself. This exploration of eroticism as a means of self-reflection opened new doors for artistic innovation. It gave new intensity to images with sexual implications and revealed their potential to be powerful reflections of one’s own experiences. So, while Picasso is firmly established as a founder of modernity, he can also be credited with creating a new place for eroticism in twentieth-century art.

At the turn of the century, Picasso, barely in his twenties, began experimenting with different approaches to painting. The first half of the first decade of the twentieth century was dominated with his experimentation with color through his Blue Period (1901-1904) and Rose Period (1904-1906). It is during these years that one can sense the initial impact of the erotic in Picasso’s paintings. In 1903, for example, he completed a small oil painting entitled La Douceur (1903; Metropolitan Museum of Art), a boudoir picture that is rendered in the cool blues typical of his Blue Period. It is also a rather suggestive image, both in that Picasso painted a particular sexual act being performed and also that he used his own self-portrait to depict the recipient of this sexual favor. He positions himself as somewhat detached from the act that is occurring, instead of propping himself up and gazing rather confidently at the viewer. While this posture can be seen as Picasso’s quotation of his art-historical heritage (The Metropolitan, for example, draws parallels between this pose and that seen in some compositions by Francisco Goya, one of Picasso’s idols), it also suggests a certain level of bravura and biography on the part of the artist, as he was a rather wanton youth.

Picasso’s shift toward experimentation with composition and form in late 1906 and early 1907 resulted in the development of Cubism, an artistic approach that generally involved the breakdown of figural and material forms into geometric planes or facets of color. Even while undergoing these more technical innovations, Picasso continued to incorporate erotic references. Indeed, some of these earliest Cubist explorations focus on compositions of women with amorous or erotic connections. Les Demoiselles d’Avignon is a prime example, as it reveals five prostitutes supposedly staged in a brothel interior. Their naked bodies are rendered as facets, or planes of color, while their faces dissolve into a certain level of asymmetry or disfigurement. This is most pronounced in the two right-hand figures, whose faces were reworked into emulations of African masks. The grittiness of this masked figure in the foreground is exacerbated by her rather vulgar squatting position as she looks directly out at the viewer.

The erotic played a significant role in Picasso’s exploration of himself.

While Picasso could be examining his own profligate sexuality here, one can also say that this painting reflects Picasso’s own tumultuous relationship with model-turned-lover Fernand Olivier. The two had met and fell in love in 1904, but their liaison was plagued with jealously that resulted in consistent bickering and, eventually, their separation. Picasso’s love for Fernand, and perhaps also his desire to better understand her, is reflected pronouncedly in his early Cubist works, and it seems not coincidental that it was when Picasso and Fernand parted ways in 1907 that he returned to Demoiselles d’Avignon and changed the two women on the right into masked figures. While only Picasso knows exactly why he incorporated these changes, one can suggest that he did so in direct response to Fernand’s departure. Thus, the eroticism of the scene is tempered with Picasso’s personal frustration between sex, love, and life.

For more discussion of Picasso’s erotic art, please look to Picasso Érotique, the comprehensive catalog from the 2001 exhibition organized by the French Réunion des Musées Nationaux that featured over 350 works on an erotic theme from Picasso’s oeuvre.