Explores the long history of erotic visual art in German culture, connecting it to wider political and economic shifts and modern sexual liberalization
In what ways can erotica chart the story of a nation in transition? What can it reveal about the discontinuities-and uncomfortable parallels-between the periods of political and economic turmoil that characterize modern German history?
The rapid modernization of the German Empire in 1871 led to large-scale transformations in the cultural, social, and political spheres. Exploring a rich diversity of erotic visual art-from paintings and photographs, to postcard and graphic folios-this volume reveals the impact of these changes on the erotic interests of the nation.
Exploring various forms of artistic production, reception, and circulation, Erotic Art in Modern Germany argues for the cultural value of erotica in modern Germany. It presents work by both highly regarded and lesser-known artists and explores themes such as legal cultures and the impact of censorship, sexuality and sexual reform, and changing political frameworks, from imperialism to fascism. 10 chapters explore diverse topics, from philological and ethnographic approaches to erotic art, to scientific developments, gender and sexuality. With its holistic, cross-disciplinary approach-drawing from the fields of anthropology, film theory, Marxism, feminism, and trans- and queer theories-the book complicates simplistic understandings of 'modern' erotica and powerfully underlines its enduring significance as a site of dissent and experimentation.
Arvustused
An exciting, wide-ranging collection that guides the reader into new ways of seeing erotic art, and the erotic past. It reveals an underappreciated breath of sexual desires, bodies, genders, and sexual practices, in a tour de force of empirical richness and cross-disciplinary conceptual sophistication. A serious contribution to the field! * Jennifer V. Evans, Professor of History, Carleton University, Canada * The history of the erotic far too often goes unexamined. This highly-readable collection changes this, with a bold, multifaceted look at German erotic art from monarchy to fascism, highlighting marginalized and queer perspectives and confronting difficult questions and histories. * Katie Sutton, Associate Professor of German and Gender Studies, Australian National University *
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Explores the long history of erotic visual art in German culture, connecting it to wider political and economic shifts and modern sexual liberalization
List of Illustrations
List of Contributors
Acknowledgements
Series Editor Introduction, Thomas O. Haakenson
Introduction, Camilla Smith and Ty Vanover
Part One: Locating Eroticism: Centres and Periphery
1. Hans Licht: Bringing Homosexuality into the Light, Whitney Davis
(University of California, Berkeley, USA; NOMIS Foundation, Zürich,
Switzerland)
2. Kirchners Kama-sutra: Indian Erotica and Orientalist Fantasies in
Imperial Germany, Sol Izquierdo de la Viña (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid,
Spain)
3. Rudolf Wackers Drawings of Sexual Graffiti as Intimate Ethnology, Änne
Söll (Ruhr Universität Bochum, Germany)
Part Two: Queer Desire and Gender Non-Conformity
4. Fantasies of Lesbian Desire in Max Klingers Zelt (Pavilion; 1916), Clare
I. Rogan (Detroit Institute of Arts, USA)
5. Charlotte Berend-Corinth, Anita Berber, and Female Erotica in the Weimar
Republic, Abbey Rees-Hales (University of Birmingham, UK)
6. Hiding in the Surface: Platonic Eros and the Work of Sascha Schneider,
Christiane Starck (Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany)
7. Spiritualism Homoeroticism: The Sexual Utopia of Elisàr von Kupffer and
Eduard von Mayer, Damien Delille (Université Lumière Lyon 2, France)
Part Three: Body Politics: Possibilities and Foreclosures
8. Otto Dixs Soldier and Nun (Rape) (1924): A Testimony to War or Sexual
Violence?, Marie Gispert (Université Grenoble Alpes, France)
9. Eros, Architecture, and Photography: Heinz Hajek-Halke and German
Surrealism, Camilla Smith (University of Birmingham, UK)
10. The Allure of the Ideal: Homoerotic Art for the Third Reich, Ty Vanover
(Dickinson College, USA)
Index
Camilla Smith is Associate Professor in Art History in the Department of Art History, Curating and Visual Studies at the University of Birmingham, UK. She is the author of Jeanne Mammen (Bloomsbury, 2023) and has published widely on erotic visual culture in Oxford Art Journal, Art History, and The Art Bulletin.
Ty Vanover is an instructor in the department of Art & Art History at Dickinson College. His work has appeared in Oxford Art Journal, Arts, and Ikonotheka.
