Erotic art
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2008-07-15T01:02:20Z
Blanchardb
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Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/202.84.20.21|202.84.20.21]] to last version by Bobo192 (using [[WP:HG|Huggle]])
[[Image:Fragonard, The Swing.jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[Jean-Honoré Fragonard|Fragonard]]'s ''The Swing'' is suggestive rather than explicit, but in the 18th century depicting a lady with a man able to look up her skirts was considered highly erotic.{{Fact|date=December 2007}}]]
'''Erotic art''' covers any [[Work of art|artistic work]] including [[painting]]s, [[sculpture]]s, [[photography|photographs]], [[music]] and [[writing]]s that is intended to evoke [[erotic]] arousal or that depicts scenes of [[human sexuality|love-making]].
==Definition==
{{details|Erotic literature}}
Defining erotic art is difficult since perceptions of both what is erotic and what is art fluctuate. A sculpture of a [[phallus]] in some African cultures may be considered a traditional symbol of potency though not overtly erotic.
[[Image:Erotic netsuke 2.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Erotic Netsuke made of mammoth ivory sculptured in Japan.]]
In addition, a distinction is often made between erotic art and [[pornography]] (which also depicts scenes of love-making and is intended to evoke [[erotic]] arousal, but is not usually considered art). The distinction may lie in intent and message; erotic art intended as pieces of art, encapturing formal elements of art, and drawing on other historical artworks. Pornography may also use these tools, but is primarily intended to arouse one sexually. Nevertheless, these elements of distinction are highly subjective.
For instance, Justice [[Potter Stewart]] of the [[Supreme Court of the United States]], in attempting to explain "hard-core" pornography, or what is obscene, famously wrote, "I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced . . . [b]ut I know it when I see it . . . ."<ref>''Jacobellis v. Ohio'', 378 U.S. 184, 197 (1964).</ref>
==Historical==
[[Image:Kajuraho homoerotic sculpture - India - Danielou - auparashtika.jpg|thumb|150px|left|Hermit [[monk]] performing [[auparashtika]] on a princely visitor. Temple of Chhapri, Central India, 12th century. Khajuraho.]]
[[Image:Fellatiomoche.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Moche Ceramic Depicting Fellatio. 200 A.D.]]
{{details|History of erotic depictions#Early depictions}}
{{details|Erotic art in Pompeii and Herculaneum}}
Among the oldest surviving examples of erotic depictions are [[Paleolithic]] cave paintings and carvings, but many cultures have created erotic art. The ancient [[Greeks]] painted sexual scenes on their ceramics, many of them famous for being some of the earliest depictions of same-sex relations and pederasty, and there are numerous sexually explicit paintings on the walls of ruined Roman buildings in [[Pompeii]]. The [[Moche]] of [[Peru]] in [[South America]] are another ancient people that sculpted explicit scenes of sex into their pottery. <ref> Chambers, M., Leslie, J. & Butts, S., ''Pornography: The Secret History of Civilization'' [DVD], Koch Vision (2005).</ref> There is an entire gallery devoted to pre-Columbian erotic ceramics ([[Moche]] culture) in [[Lima]] at the [[Larco Museum]].
[[Image:Erotica707.jpg|thumb|300px|Love of archery, ''Verma, c~1780''.]]
Additionally, there has been a long tradition of erotic painting among the Eastern cultures. In [[Japan]], for example, [[shunga]] appeared in the 13th century and continued to grow in popularity until the late 19th century when photography was invented.<ref name = shunga>{{cite web| title = Shunga| publisher = Japanese art net and architecture users system| date = 2001| url = http://www.aisf.or.jp/%7Ejaanus/deta/s/shunga.htm| accessdate = 2006-08-23}}</ref> Similarly, the erotic art of [[China]] reached its popular peak during the latter part of the [[Ming Dynasty]].<ref> Bertholet, L.C.P., "Dreams of Spring: Erotic Art in China," ''Bertholet Collection'', Pepin Press (October, 1997). ISBN 90-5496-039-6.</ref> In [[India]], the famous [[Kama Sutra]] is an ancient sex manual that is still popularly read throughout the world.<ref> Daniélou, A., ''The Complete Kama Sutra: The First Unabridged Modern Translation, Inner Traditions'', (1993). ISBN 0-89281-525-6.</ref>
In Europe, starting with the [[Renaissance]], there was a tradition of producing erotica for the amusement of the aristocracy. In the early 16th century, the text ''[[I Modi]]'' was an [[woodcut]] album created by the designer [[Giulio Romano]], the engraver [[Marcantonio Raimondi]] and the poet [[Pietro Aretino]]. In 1601 [[Michelangelo Merisi|Caravaggio]] painted the "[[Amor Vincit Omnia (Caravaggio)|Amor Vincit Omnia]]," for the collection of the Marquis Vincenzo Giustiniani. The tradition is continued by other, more modern painters, such as [[Fragonard]], [[Courbet]], [[Jean-François Millet|Millet]], [[Balthus]], [[Picasso]], [[Edgar Degas]], [[Toulouse-Lautrec]], [[Egon Schiele]], who served time in jail and had several works destroyed by the authorities for offending turn-of-the-century Austrian mores with his depiction of nude young girls.
==Modern==
Today, erotic artists thrive, although, in some circles, much of the genre is still not as accepted as the more standard genres of art such as portraiture and landscape. During the last few centuries, society has broadened its view of what can be considered as art and several new styles developed during the 1800s such as [[Impressionism]] and [[Realism (visual arts)|Realism]]. This has given today's artists a broader, almost infinite, spectrum with which to work.
==Legal standards==
[[Image:S&M Dungeon 9 by David Shankbone.jpg|thumb|[[Erotic photography]].]]Whether or not an instance of erotic art is [[obscene]] depends on the standards of the community in which it is displayed.
In the [[United States]], the 1973 ruling of the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] in ''[[Miller v. California]]'' established a three-tiered [[Miller test|test]] to determine what was obscene - and thus not protected, versus what was merely erotic and thus protected by the [[First Amendment]].
Delivering the opinion of the court, Chief Justice [[Warren Burger]] wrote, <blockquote>
The basic guidelines for the trier of fact must be: (a) whether 'the average person, applying contemporary community standards' would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest, (b) whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law; and (c) whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.<ref> ''Miller v. California'', 413 U.S. 15, 24 (1973).</ref>
</blockquote>
As this is still, almost by necessity, much more vague than other judicial tests within U.S. jurisprudence, it has not reduced the conflicts that often result, especially from the ambiguities concerning what the "contemporary community standards" are. Similar difficulties in distinguishing between erotica and obscenity have been found in almost every legal system in the world.
==The Association of Erotic Artists==
The Association of Erotic Artists is a campaigning body for artists, photographers, film-makers, writers, sculptors and models working within the erotic arts.
It also exists in part to counter calls for increased censorship from bodies such as [[Christian Voice (UK)]] and [[mediawatch-uk]] and in so doing act as a champion for free speech.
A 2007 press release on the Association website states
"With threats from censorship and intolerance towards depictions of sexuality on the increase, from Governmental and religious bodies, it is important that artists working within the erotic genre are represented and given a voice to allow for a balanced perspective within any media debate"
== See also ==
*[[Fetish art]]
*[[Erotica]]
*[[Sexual arousal]]
*[[History of erotic photography]]
*[[History of erotic depictions]]
*[[Lesbianism in erotica]]
*[[Nudity in art]]
*[[Sex in advertising]]
*[[Sex in film]]
==References==
<div class="references-small" >
<references/><br />
* ''See also'' Judith Silver of Coollawyer.com, "Movie Day at the Supreme Court or 'I Know It When I See It': A History of the Definition of Obscenity," on FindLaw.com.[http://library.findlaw.com/2003/May/15/132747.html]
</div>
==External links==
*[http://www.all-art.org/er_in_art/001contents.html "Erotica in Art," appendix to the History of Art]
*[http://www.associationoferoticartists.co.uk The Association of Erotic Artists]
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[[Category:Aesthetics]]
[[Category:Erotic art| ]]
[[Category:Erotica by medium|Art]]
[[pl:Sztuka erotyczna]]