Adrienne Rich (1929-2012) was an American poet, essayist, teacher and activist.  She wrote especially about the oppression of women and lesbians.  Her books included A Change of the World, Atlas of the Difficult World and Of Woman Born: Motherhood as…

Marc Chagall (1887-1985) was a Russian-French artist known for his modernist work, who created in a variety of formats, including paintings, stained glass, stage sets and tapestries.  He was greatly influenced by his Jewish heritage.  Chagall produced some erotic pieces. …

George Grosz (1893-1959) was a German artist known for his caricatures of life in 1920’s Berlin.  A member of the Dada and New Objectivity groups, he usually drew in pen and ink and occasionally in watercolor.  Grosz was also a…

Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827) was an English caricaturist, noted for his political and social satire.  His main subject was London street life, and his most popular works were the “Tours of Dr. Syntax” series.  He also illustrated many contemporary novels, including…

R. Crumb (b. 1943) is an American cartoonist and musician.  His work satirizes current American culture and shows a nostalgia for the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  It has also been greatly inspired by psychedelics.  Crumb is most famous…

Little Annie Fanny was a comic strip that ran in Playboy magazine from 1962 to 2000.  It satirized contemporary American society and its sexual customs, using bawdy humor.  Rather than the customary inked, outlined style with flat colors, the series…

Tijuana Bibles were eight-page comic strips that depicted movie stars, athletes, cartoon characters or stock figures in sexual situations.  The plots were often based on dirty jokes.  Palm-sized, they were printed largely in black-and-white on cheap paper and were sold…

The Storyville Portraits are photographs of the sex workers of Storyville, New Orlean’s red-light district.  The pictures were taken by E.J. Bellocq in the 1910’s.  The 89 photographs depict women, some nude, some dressed, some masked.  The women are shown…

Olympia (1865) is an oil painting by Édouard Manet.  It depicts a courtesan, with her servant and cat, as she waits for a client.  After he was challenged to display a nude painting at the Annual Salon, Manet created Olympia. …

Moms Mabley (1897-1975) was an American stand-up comic.  Appearing as a frumpy older woman, speaking in a raspy voice, she made sexually explicit jokes, particularly focusing on her desire for young men and her disdain for older men.  Her grandmotherly…