Ars Erotica - An Arousing History of Erotic Art by Edward Lucie-Smith.  Large format (11.” X 9.”), lavishly illustrated paperback in good condition with mild cover wear. 

Edward Lucie-Smith is probably the best-known author in his field internationally respected for the breadth of his sympathies, for the clarity and directness of his writing on art, and for his ability to make complex contemporary developments accessible to a wide audience. He brings all of his talents to bear in this book, which is a wonderful compendium of erotic art and literature, selected by, and commented on by the world’s leading authority on the subject.

Ars Erotica looks at the way in which perceptions of the erotic and its expressions have changed at turning points in Western history - how the interplay of repression and permissiveness has affected art and literature. The social course of sexuality is revealed in the erotic poetry and prose of writers from ancient times through the present, including John Donne, Pablo Neruda, the Marquis de Sade, e.e. cummings, and many anonymous writers. Arousing art of all periods and mediums - images illustrating the Kama Sutra and Japanese scrolls, the engravings of Marcantonio Raimondi, the paintings of Watteau and Manet, Edward Munch’s Puberty, the photography of Arthur Tress, and the work of Aubrey Beardsley, David Hockney, Andres Serrano, and many others - illustrates the theme of each chapter. Contemporaneous social and critical reactions to this art and literature are discussed, and debates are presented on the timeless issue of pornography.