# Art. Classic sexy **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 20, 2022, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-classic-sexy/964758 "2022-05-20T12:25:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2022, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-classic-sexy/964758/1 "2022-05-20T12:25:58Z")
No, I’m not looking for the latest smut. However, can anybody give me titles (TITLES ONLY) of very sexy Fine art, from the 17th, 18th & 19th Centuries? Fine art Paintings only, please ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2022, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-classic-sexy/964758/2 "2022-05-20T12:42:04Z")
You mean like erotic art? Katsushika Hokusai had a whole series called “Young Pines”, including, e.g., “Intimate Couple on a Boat”. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2022, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-classic-sexy/964758/3 "2022-05-20T12:59:43Z")
L’Origine du Monde —Gustave Courbet, 1866 ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2022, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-classic-sexy/964758/4 "2022-05-20T13:55:16Z")
The Birth of Venus by Bottecelli by Poussin by Boucher by Bouguereau by Cabanel by Duval by Gérôme ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2022, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-classic-sexy/964758/5 "2022-05-20T14:05:28Z")
> [@solost](#): > > L’Origine du Monde > —Gustave Courbet, 1866 Jeez dude, some of us like a little foreplay first 🤓 Tsar Alexander II had an immense collection of erotica, including his own drawing of his mistress Katya. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2022, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-classic-sexy/964758/6 "2022-05-20T14:11:34Z")
The [Rokeby Venus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rokeby_Venus)? ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2022, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-classic-sexy/964758/7 "2022-05-20T14:39:34Z")
When I was a little kid, we had a book in which was a photo of a classical marble sculpture. It was two figures: A man (who may have been wearing a winged helmet) standing with an upraised sword, and a prostrate nude woman on the ground, with one arm raised as in a defensive manner. As little as I was, I was fascinated by the most perfect breasts ever committed to stone. I’ve never been able to find that statue. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2022, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-classic-sexy/964758/8 "2022-05-20T14:40:07Z")
[Chloé](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlo%C3%A9_(artwork)) is probably the only one that is hanging in a pub. She has her own bar at [Young & Jackson](https://www.youngandjacksons.com.au/) in Melbourne. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2022, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-classic-sexy/964758/9 "2022-05-20T15:08:22Z")
Deleted ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2022, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-classic-sexy/964758/10 "2022-05-20T15:20:32Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > No, I’m not looking for the latest smut. Why not? ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2022, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-classic-sexy/964758/11 "2022-05-20T15:35:06Z")
I give you Manet’s Olympia (1863) [Olympia (1863)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympia_(Manet)) (NSFW link blurred). It caused much consternation when unveiled as the first nude painting that wasn’t Madonna or a classical goddess; it was a prostitute! I used this with two separate audiences. One was a Civil War roundtable where I talked about what else was happening during that time period, and the controversy it caused. The old gents in the audience squirmed when I showed it on the screen. The second was in a web development class for college students. We were discussing what was appropriate and legal for them to post to their college-funded personal web pages: no gambling, fund-raising, businesses, hate-crimes, etc. Another was no pornography, so I showed this, asking if this was a critical discussion of the painting would that be allowed? Of course would be! That also had a few students squirming in their seats; they were adults after all, but gosh this was a nude woman! In fact, I had one class survey response saying how much they hated being exposed to such pornography and it was a terrible class because of that. Oh my! ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2022, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-classic-sexy/964758/12 "2022-05-20T15:48:52Z")
by Edward Poynter: Cave of the Storm Nymphs At Low Tide Andromeda Wild Blossom The Vision of Endymion by William-Adolphe Bouguereau: _The Bather_ or _Baigneuse_ (1864) _The Bather_ or _Baigneuse_ (1870) _The Bather_ or _Baigneuse_ (1879) _After the Bath_ _The Wave_ _Les Deux Baigneuses_ (1884) _L’Aurore_ or _Dawn_ _Soir_ or _Evening_ _Nymphaeum_ _Biblis_ _Seated Nude_ _The Invasion_ _The Return of Spring_ _The Oreads_ _Nymphs and Satyr_ Just about anything with “Venus”, “Psyche”, “Andromeda”, “Danae”, “The Source”, or “Odalisque” in the title. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2022, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-classic-sexy/964758/13 "2022-05-20T15:49:42Z")
Manet also gave us Luncheon on the Grass [Luncheon on the Grass](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_D%C3%A9jeuner_sur_l%27herbe), featuring a nude woman (probably the same model as in _Olympia_) having a picnic with two fully dressed men. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2022, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-classic-sexy/964758/14 "2022-05-20T16:07:35Z")
Bear in mind that in the timeframe given by the OP, venereal disease was a horrific prospect, weighted counter to sexual desire. A thread titled “Art. Classic icky” would feature Otto Dix, Hans Belmer and Egon Schiele ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2022, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-classic-sexy/964758/15 "2022-05-20T16:20:39Z")
Sorry that happened to you. There were always people who objected to art that doesn’t exalt the human form into the ridiculous. It’s not a MeToo thing: Louis Napoleon threatened to run his dress sword through _Olympia._ That said, most everything by Balthus should be Shitcanned. And Ed Kienholz’ _Illegal Operation_ should be installed at the steps of the Supreme Court. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2022, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-classic-sexy/964758/16 "2022-05-20T17:41:50Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Just about anything with “Venus”, “Psyche”, “Andromeda”, “Danae”, “The Source”, or “Odalisque” in the title. Reminds me also of Michelangelo’s “Leda and the Swan”, but that is too pre-classic (according to the OP); plus, not every (even nude) mythological figure is automatically supposed to be “sexy”—it depends. (Being raped by a god is definitely some kind of sexual symbolism, though; cf. Yeats’ poem). ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2022, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-classic-sexy/964758/17 "2022-05-20T18:11:22Z")
One iteration of Hylas and the Nymphs as seen on Wikipedia [spoiler][Hylas - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hylas#/media/File:Waterhouse_Hylas_and_the_Nymphs_Manchester_Art_Gallery_1896.15.jpg%5B/spoiler%5D) is interesting as several of the nymphs are not shown as exposed and are staring at the beautiful man without him staring back, although several of them are examples of the typical gaze so often complained of. I don’t find it the sexi_est_, per se, because many of them have the weirdly-shaped chins so often found in Preraphaelite paintings, but it is both interesting and less unacceptable than the sculpture of the same myth found in the Tate gallery in London. Because this Hylas looks like a fully grown man, whereas in the sculpture he is almost certainly underage. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2022, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-classic-sexy/964758/18 "2022-05-20T18:45:19Z")
Carlos Schwabe, _Spleen et Idéal_, 1907 Felicien Rops - [spoiler][https://www.wikiart.org/en/felicien-rops[/spoiler]](https://www.wikiart.org/en/felicien-rops%5B/spoiler%5D) Mihaly Zichy - [spoiler][https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mihaly-zichy\_n\_5269182[/spoiler]](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mihaly-zichy_n_5269182%5B/spoiler%5D) PLEASE NOTE: Above two links contain NSFW material ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2022, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-classic-sexy/964758/19 "2022-05-20T21:53:16Z")
Cupid and Psyche [Cupid and Psyche](https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1962.37), by Jaques-Louis David. > [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > However, can anybody give me titles (TITLES ONLY) [Moderating] If this was meant to avoid trouble with the rules, I thank you for your consideration, but there’s not actually any problem with links, provided that they follow the two-click rule. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2022, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/art-classic-sexy/964758/20 "2022-05-21T12:37:36Z")
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