The Erotic Print Society
erotic art - erotic books - erotic fiction - erotic movies - erotic photography
Paris Spring 1933 - Feodor Rojankovsky
The Erotic Print Society
The Erotic Print Society was founded in 1993 by two art dealers who had curated the first exhibition of historic and contemporary erotic art in London eight years before.
Now with considerable knowledge of the field they recognised that public access to great examples of the genre was becoming more and more limited - increasingly the domain of restricted museum collections and that of private collectors. At the same time they saw that there was, in the UK at least, no real showplace for the erotic works of contemporary artists.
The general purpose of the Society is to bring these works to a wider audience and within financial reach of most collectors. Erotica is one of the last frontiers of art to be crossed and a serious investigation is long overdue. Sex is a significant human activity and from prehistoric times artists have given their own creative interpretation of the subject.
Erotic art is an intimate and personal examination of human sexuality in all its rich diversity, a means of creative expression, whether serious or light-hearted, provocative or inspirational. Western society tends to suppress erotic imagery on the one hand, while on the other it exploits it to the full, whether in advertising or pornography. To say that erotic art celebrates, and pornography exploits, sex would be to over-simplify a complex issue.
So what does the Society do? Essentially it publishes limited editions of both rare and contemporary erotic art using the highest standards of printing techniques and the most appropriate quality of paper for each edition. These editions can usually be purchased in elegant card folders or luxury, hand-crafted portfolios. The prints can be preserved in their portfolios or framed. Frequently the accompanying texts of the original editions will have been published in a foreign language. The Society commissions translations in English for its own editions, often for the very first time. We also publish anthologies of the work of single artists in book-form in a limited and a popular edition.
The Erotic Print Society offers you an unprecedented opportunity to create your own special collection of classic works from the golden age of erotic art and also new works by exciting contemporary talent. --http://www.eroticprints.org [Jan 2005]
Feodor Rojankovsky (1891 – 1970)
Paris Spring 1933 - Feodor Rojankovsky
Latvian artist Feodor Rojankovsky, known as 'Rojan', worked in Paris in the '20s and '30s. Famous as a children's book illustrator, his other artistic endeavours were perhaps less well-known but no less appreciated: Rojan regularly illustrated erotic fiction and his output was impressive. His erotic drawings enlivened the poetry of Raymond Radiguet and Pierre Louys as well as many others of the golden age of French erotica.
His chef d'oeuvre, however, has always been considered to be Idylle Printanière (Spring Idyll; published by EPS as Paris Spring 1933), a "story without words" telling of an encounter between two elegant travellers who meet on a platform on the Paris Metro. Passing in a taxi through the Paris of Henry Miller and Anaïs Nin, the couple are soon passionately entwined... Delivered to a maison de passe they consummate their mutual lust with more privacy - but no less less frantic urgency.
This art-deco masterpiece has lost none of its original fire and brilliance. The original 1933 edition, comprising only 516 sets, is now almost unobtainable and has fetched up to £2,500 at auction. --http://www.eroticprints.org/rojanparisspring.asp [Jan 2005]
Rojankovsky, Feodor. Idylle Printaniere. Fedor Rojankovsky's legendary erotic masterpiece, Idylle Printanière (Spring Idyll aka Pariser Frühlingsromanze, Spring Romance, Paris Spring ) FIRST EDITION, one of 516 numbered copies on Arches paper, pictorial title and 30 colour lithographs complete and loose, as issued, in paper window-mounts, the b/w title sheet with light spotting and partly split along horizontal crease, but the exquisite colour plates are all in very good condition, original cloth-backed portfolio with silk ties Paris, 1933. Feodor Rojankovsky [often Fedor or Feodor Rojankovski, Rojankowski, Rojankowsky, but more widely known as 'Rojan'] was born in Latvia, becoming an illustrator during the Russian Revolution and later in France where he achieved acclaim through the illustration of children's books especially the series of Pere Castor (pseudonym for Paul Faucher, 1898 - 1967) published by Flammarion in the 1930's. In 1941 he moved to the United States, where he created illustrations for Daniel Boone, Mother Goose, Over in the Meadow, Frog Went A-Courtin, The Cabin Faced West and many other publications, and was duly awarded the Caldecott Medal by the Association for Library Service to Children having by that time secured his reputation as one of the most popular children's book illustrators in post-war America. A brilliant colourist and a fine draughtsman Rojankovski's work displays a striking charm and vivacity, the hallmarks of a prodigious talent, and this seldom-seen folio, strictly for adults, is no exception. With characteristic wit and joie de vivre the series depicts a romantic chance-encounter between an anonymous couple beginning on a platform of the Paris Metro and continuing in the interior of a taxi, reaching its climax in a the art deco confines of a Parisian hotel room. From the Golden Age of French erotic illustrated pochoirs: a celebrated cornerstone with few, if any, equals. --http://www.altair.co.uk/bookspost1900.html [Jan 2005]
Sex: An Intimate Companion (2001) - Stephen Bayley (Editor)
Sex: An Intimate Companion - Stephen Bayley (Editor) [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
An exploration of sex and sexuality. It consists of a selection of thematic articles, ranging from 2500 words down to 250, written by "Erotic Review" contributors and a few major international writers such as Norman Mailer and Camille Paglia. The articles cover a range of topics, from the snake in Eden to cybersex and Lara Croft, drawing on themes from aphrodisiac to fetishism, and relationships to prostitution. It is illustrated from the archives of the Erotic Print Society. Other contributors include Clive James, India Knight, Jonathon Green, Michael Bywater and Simon Raven. --via Amazon.com
It's the best-ever account of sex, with over 250 eye-popping illustrations (many of them rare) and utterly frank contributions from over 20 distinguished writers-including award-winning novelist Philip Hensher on dance, British Museum curator Catherine Johns on the eroticism of classical art, and Will Self on sex, drugs, and virtual reality. Architect John Pawson (designer of Calvin Klein's flagship Manhattan store) looks at the sensuousness of space and buildings. Trevor Beattie, creator of some of the hottest advertisements ever, reveals his inspirations. Yasmin Alibhia-Brown discusses Indian sensuality, while Lesley Downer explores the role of the geisha in Japan. Victoria Coren asks (and answers) what women want, while Ronald Hyam wonders "whether size matters." From religion and civilization to law and manners, sex and the arts to the body and technology, it's the most fun you can have.with a book in your hands. Bonus: a chronology of sex. --via Amazon.com