These two books celebrate the 1968 “First International Exhibition of Erotic Art,” held in Lund, Sweden. Together, the two offer over 750 works of art (80 in color) in a truly international sampling. They follow the same pattern, with a section each for art from Western countries, India, China, Japan, and primitive peoples. The “Primitives” largely cover Africa and Pacifica in volume 1 and pre-Columbian central and south America in v.2. Each section starts with a brief commentary, and v.1 describes how the exhibition was brought to life and how the viewers responded to it. I was interested that one viewer was a thoughtful 12-year-old boy, there without his parents (though with their consent) – something that would end up on the tabloids and in court in the contemporary US.

Western art dominates both volumes, not just in bulk but in breadth of vision. The collection includes pieces by Dali, Rembrandt, Picasso, Rodin, Klimt, and other names from the main stream of art, plus many names that will be new to most readers. There are finished works and sketches, realists and abstractions, quaintly historical to hippie-era Pop Art, and humorous to passionate to political to perverse. Just about every combination and quantity of people appear, from solo activities to visual fields filled with people – although female couples appear a number of times, all-male groupings appear only infrequently.

The non-Western offerings tend to be less varied. Indian works in v.1 consist of works on 18th- and 19-century works on paper, intended largely for entertainment, but v.2 includes sculptures and a bare hint of the thousand-year traditions that interpret human passion as a holy, creative force. Scrolls and paintings from China display more variation, not so much in gymnastic poses as in style and social settings. Although lone couples appear, threesomes (or a couple with a helper) and large, varied groups are common in this collection. Japanese works include many familiar names like Hokusai, but approach the Western sections in the variety of moods presented. Above all, the few Japanese works include more humor than all the rest put together, whether gentle, satirical, or slapstick. Japanese style range widely, too, from elegantly finished woodcuts to quick, skilled ink drawings and to cartoons bordering on abstraction. “Primitive” works, including a few from Europe and the US, are all sculptural, and range from sacred or mythic to the plainly pandering.

I found only two real faults in this collection. The first, a predomination of B&W over color photos, was a disappointing but economically necessary fact of printing technology ca. 1970 – it’s surprising how far color reproduction has come since then. The second problem comes from weak attribution, uneven handling of dates and origins of pieces. I’d like to see more (or color) work by many of these artists, especially in the Japanese collections, but lack of references will make it a difficult search. Despite those flaws, it’s an enjoyable and informative collection. Best, it generally avoids the angry or hateful tone that makes pornography so unpleasant. These players and their play are happy, gentle, and consensual. Enjoy!

– wiredweird
Rating: 4 / 5