Striptease recreates the combustible mixture of license, independence, and sexual curiosity that allowed strippers to thrive for nearly a century. Rachel Shteir brings to life striptease's Golden Age, the years between the Jazz Age and the Sexual Revolution, when strippers performed around the country, in burlesque theatres, nightclubs, vaudeville houses, carnivals, fairs, and even in glorious palaces on the Great White Way. Taking us behind the scenes, Shteir introduces us to a diverse cast of characters that collided on the burlesque stage, from tight-laced political reformers and flamboyant impresarios, to drag queens, shimmy girls, cootch dancers, tit serenaders, and even girls next door, lured into the profession by big-city aspirations. Throughout the book, readers will find essential profiles of famed performers, including Gypsy Rose Lee, 'the Literary Stripper'; Lili St. Cyr, the 1950s mistress of exotic striptease; and Blaze Starr, the 'human heat wave'. who literally set the stage on fire. striptease is an insightful and entertaining portrait of an art form at once reviled and embraced by the American public. Blending careful research and vivid narration, Rachel Shteir captures striptease's combination of sham and seduction while illuminating its surprisingly persistent hold on the American imagination.

Selected by W.E.B Du Bois and published together for the first time, a collection of 150 rare and beautiful photographs of African Americans out of slavery and beyond, with essays by Pulitzer Prize winner David Levering Lewis and the MacAthur fellow, African American photo historian Deborah Willis.

Modern approaches to Roman imperialism have often characterized Romanzation as a benign or neutral process of cultural exchange between Roman and non-Roman, conqueror and conquered. Although supported by certain types of literary and archaeological evidence, this characterization is not reflected in the visual imagery of the Roman ruling elite. In official imperial art, Roman children are most often shown in depictions of peaceful public gatherings before the emperor, whereas non-Roman children appear only in scenes of submission, triumph, or violent military activity. Images of children, those images most fraught with potential in Roman art, underscore the contrast between Roman and non-Roman and as a group present a narrative of Roman identity. As Jeannine Diddle Uzzi argues in this 2005 study, the stark contrast between images of Roman and non-Roman children conveys the ruling elite's notions of what it meant to be Roman.

To the eye of some viewers, Renoir's "Great Bathers" are the very picture of female sensuality and beauty. To others, they embody a whole tradition of masculine mastery and feminine display. Yet others find in the bathers a feminine fantasy of bodily liberation. The points of view are many, various, occasionally startling--and through them, Linda Nochlin explores the contradictions and dissonances that mark experience as well as art. Her book--about art, the body, beauty, and ways of viewing--confronts the issues posed in representations particularly of the female body in the art of impressionists, modern masters, and contemporary realists and post-modernists.

Nochlin begins by focusing on the painterly preoccupation with bathing, whether at the beach, in lakes and rivers, in public swimming pools, or in bathtubs. In discussions of Renoir, Manet, Cezanne, Bonnard, and Picasso, of late-twentieth-century and contemporary artists such as Philip Pearlstein, Alice Neel, and Jenny Saville, of grotesque imagery, the concept of beauty, and the body in realism, she develops an interpretive collage incorporating the readings of differing, strong-willed, female viewpoints. Among these is, of course, Nochlin's own, a vantage point subtly charted here through a longtime engagement with art, art history, and artists.

In many ways a personal book, "Bathers, Bodies, Beauty" brings to bear a lifetime of looking at, teaching, talking about, wrestling with, loving, and hating art to reveal and complicate the lived and felt--the visceral--experience of art.

This study examines the forces that made the nude a contentious image in the early Third Republic. Analyzing the evolving relationship between the fine art nude, print culture, and censorship, Heather Dawkins explores how artists, art critics, politicians, bureaucrats, lawyers, and judges evaluated the nude. She reveals how spectatorship of the nude was refracted through the ideals of art, femininity, republican liberty, and public decency. Dawkins also investigates how women reshaped private perception of the nude to accommodate their own experience and subjectivity.

Vaginas: A book with pleasure Full Color Close-up Photos For many years the vagina has symbolized the joy and pain for a man, is that part of the female anatomy that has many fans. In this book you will find the best pictures of vaginas of different types and flavors, of white women, blondes and brunettes. This book is designed for both men and women due to its highly graphical presentation. Warning: explicit material, its content is reserved to adults (over 18 years) Statement: All photos belong to models, that at the moment of posing, they had more than 21 years. Buy it and enjoy it, but do not share it, can cause addiction. venus pleasure

An exciting new illustrator with a passion for design and detail, James Hottinger is quickly becoming a fan-favourite in fantasy art. His sense of style and humour is matched by his immaculate technique and precision. His girls are pretty amazing as well! This full colour gallery of his works also includes an informative step-by-step tutorial. An outstanding discovery!

A radical, lively departure from received notions about art of the Romantic period For many, the term "neoclassicism" has come to imply discipline, order, restraint, and a certain myopia. Leaving the term behind, this book radically challenges enduring assumptions about the art produced from the late 18th century to the early Victorian period, casting new light on appropriations of the classical body by British artists. It is the first to foreground the intersections of gender, race, and class in discussions of British visual classicism, laying bare artists' alternately politicizing and emphatically sensual engagements with Greco-Roman art. Rather than rely exclusively on subsequent scholarship, the book takes up the poet John Keats (1795-1821) as a theoretical framework. Eschewing the "Golden Age" narrative, which sees J. M. W. Turner (1775-1851) as the pinnacle of the period's artistic achievement, the book examines overlooked artists, such as Henry Howard (1769-1847) and John Graham Lough (1798-1876). The result is a fresh account of underappreciated works of British painting and sculpture.

Showcasing a diverse variety of women, these portraits demonstrate the work of famed nude photographer Thomas Karsten. The collection captures a variety of unique subjects from different parts of the world, depicting the individual beauty of each culture and going beyond endeavored poses to communicate intense emotion and eroticism. Combined with the author's poetic reflections, this painstakingly produced volume is both an optical and sensual pleasure. This bilingual edition includes English and German.

Nick Baer's third collection of men's hands - two dozen models show off their hands, strategically placed at their hips. No two men's hands are alike, nor are their bodies. Including Quinoa, Mike Reddev, Chris Roc, Jack London, Goth Jason, Ang Lei, Josh Catchings, Goth Artist, George Ah, David Nick, Kenny Haare, Alec Paul, Kerry Frederick, Austin Power, Kevin Sampson, Martin Ayes, Christopher Steal, Tony Quin, Christian Hunt, Chris Carter, Erin O'Shay, Jayden Holloway, Gabriel James, Frankie Ordiales, Leo Lyon, Dominik, Johnny. Full frontal male nudity, color, 38 pages.

Vincent Stephens in a man well-known for his ability to showcase young ladies in knots and straps, but he also has a penchant for cheeky goodness as well! Chunk in the trunk as never looked better, as Stephens sets his trained eye (and active imagination) on the back end of the female mystique! Bootylicious? Most definitely!

Ever wanted to look over the gynecologist's shoulder when they were working? This is as close as you will get to seeing that view, with over 100 lip-parted, exposed, or spread open vaginas. Many of them even have a speculum opening them up to show more than you ever wanted to see. Vaginas, vaginas, and even MORE vaginas, and none of them have closed labia, or lips. Some are pulled apart, some are spread, some have fingers holding them open, and some are stretched wide open with the gynecologist tool, the speculum. These photos take you straight to (and sometimes into) the love canal, also known as the "pussy." These color pictures range from three inches away to three feet away. Men and lesbians alike will love comparing the different vagina pictures, all fully nude / naked, all in full color. This is an 5 by 8 book with one full picture per, to bring the vagina to life. Beyond topless or generally naked, or fully nude, this is all about the money shots. Don't think of this as XXX Sex Porn, think of it as beautiful feminine erotic art. All shapes, sizes, and colors of vaginas are in this book, a very compelling collection of women from around the world. A super set of pictures expanding the Female Genitalia 201 imagery, this book has no actual sex, but WARNING; VERY GRAPHIC NUDITY.

Nick Baer presents 40 nude male models in his classic "Touch Your Toes" pose. Full frontal male nudity, color, 44 pages.

The first in-depth investigation of Gauguin's portraits, revealing how the artist expanded the possibilities of the genre in new and exciting ways Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) broke with accepted conventions and challenged audiences to expand their understanding of visual expression. Nowhere is this phenomenon more evident than in his portraits, a genre he remained engaged with throughout all phases of his career. Bringing together more than 60 of Gauguin's portraits in a wide variety of media that includes painting, works on paper, and sculpture, this handsomely illustrated volume is the first focused investigation of the multifaceted ways the artist approached the subject. Essays by a group of international experts consider how the artist's conception of portraiture evolved as he moved between Brittany and Polynesia. They also examine how Gauguin infused his work with symbolic meaning by taking on different roles like the Christ figure and the savage in his self-portraits and by placing his models in suggestive settings with alluring attributes. This welcome addition to the scholarship on one of the 19th century's most innovative and controversial artists reveals fascinating insights into the crucial role that portraiture played in Gauguin's overall artistic practice.

What makes a classic so timeless? The exquisite curves? The overall design? The ability to go from zero to sixty in neck-snapping seconds? And no, we're NOT talking about cars! Baron Von Lind knows how to create pin-up art that's as bewitching and alluring as anything created in the last century! This second gallery of new pieces celebrates the Baron's need for luscious ladies in lingerie and not-so-innocent smiles on beautiful faces!

The great bondage and fetish illustrator Alazar is back, and this time he's looking where he's NOT supposed to! Taking a brief break from the ties that bind, Alazar's focus is on briefs! The frilly little scanty panties worn by girls who seem to always be walking about in a stiff breeze. Or bending over deeper than they have to. Or hiking their skirt over their waist. Or generally making a spectacular spectacle of themselves! There ladies are, by fate or design - exhibitionists who love to let the rest of us take a peek at what's just out of sight! Alazar has made a significent study of such behavior, and has assembled a wide array of illustrations to make his point. And what lovely points they are! You might blush, but you WILL look longingly at these Panty Peeks!

This illustrated biography follows Nicholas Hilliard's long and remarkable life (c. 1547-1619) from the West Country to the heart of the Elizabethan and Jacobean courts. It showcases new archival research and stunning images, many reproduced in color for the first time. Hilliard's portraits-some no larger than a watch-face-have decisively shaped perceptions of the appearances and personalities of many key figures in one of the most exciting, if volatile, periods in British history. His sitters included Elizabeth I, James I, and Mary, Queen of Scots; explorers Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh; and members of the emerging middle class from which he himself hailed. Hilliard counted the Medici, the Valois, the Habsburgs, and the Bourbons among his Continental European patrons and admirers. Published to mark the 400th anniversary of Hilliard's death, this is the definitive biography of one of Britain's most notable artists. Published in association with the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art

What is most important in the creation of art? The artist who creates, or the subject that inspires? To celebrate this delightful riddle, the model/muse/goddess Drakaina takes us on a guided tour of artists who have lovingly laboured to translate her fire and beauty into works of their own talents. This unique look at artists from a models' perspective, as she comments and revels in her adoration. Each illustrator takes a unique facet of this most alluring jewel of a woman, and shines it to a pure brilliance. The resulting gallery is a collection that reflects the many moods and visions of the one known as - "Drakaina"! Artists include Lorenzo Sperlonga, Sandra Chang, Matt Hughes, Lorenzo DiMauro, and Ariock, to name but a few of the worshipful.

Giovanni Civardi breaks down the complex process of drawing the male nude, from making rudimentary choices about framing, lighting and the most appropriate drawing tools, to rendering detailed and anatomically accurate artworks. Civardi's own masterful drawings provide an excellent touchstone for the artist wanting to explore the depiction of the male body, and his studies of numerous poses cover all aspects of life drawing. Civardi takes a pragmatic, almost scientific, approach to teaching the subject, combining basic physics with artistic interpretation. Drawing the Male Nude also touches upon the significant anatomical differences between the male and the female form, but these are also covered in some detail in the companion to this title, Drawing the Female Nude.

Edward Reed is a unique artist who delights in the old-school masters of pin-up like Vargas, Elvgren and Petty, yet he has a fascination for photo-realism that borders on the surreal. He has the practised ease of an expert when it comes to real-world airbrushing, yet has no difficulty bringing that talent to a computer screen. Whether analogue or digital, the finished illustration is what's important, and Reed brings outstanding style and beauty to all his creations. His women are classic in form yet modern in sensibility - just the right mix for a 21st Century pin-up artist! This first collection of this works - "Portraits & Pin-Ups", is well named, as it showcases both his serious and fun sides to an appreciative audience. Also an in-demand instructor, Edward has assembled a fascinating step-by-step to show how he creates such intricate and amazing masterworks.

With a body built for sex, and a mind for solving crime (through the use of sex, of course), Magenta is a take-charge kind of woman! She needs no mutant ability or radioactive bug-bite to access her amazing abilities - a tight dress and some silky underwear will do! Any man (or mildly bi-curious woman) is putty in her hands, as Magenta uses her amazing sexuality to get to the bottom...of the case! Starting her own detective agency with her friend Lucrezia (who also puts the "bust" in crime-busting), these two ladies solve mysteries the average law-enforcement agencies don't have the libido for! Written by Celestino Pes and illustrated by Nik Guerra, Magenta is presented in a retro "John Willie" style, but her adventures are wickedly timeless. More mouth-burning spiciness from Italy, brought to the US by SQP!