A Collection of Gay Erotic Art that Will Dazzle You (NSFW)
Less words, more erotic art.
Planning on a much less erotic collection called “Lesbian art to soothe your soul”. But, as that piece will contain fewer pieces, and only represent one letter of the LBTQ+ acronym, I have decided to anticipate it with this collection.
There will be plenty, we will talk about some.
Should we get straight into it?
An ancient Greek clay vessel from around 515 to 495 B.C.E. is one of the first representations of lesbian eroticism. It depicts two naked ladies, one standing and one kneeling in front of the other, physically stimulating her genitals.
Overall, sentiments about women who have had sex with other women in ancient Greece are ambiguous (especially compared to male homosexuality). Plato portrays women who have sex/relationships with other women in his Symposium, therefore we know it did happen, and we all know about Sappho.
However, according to How To Talk About Art History, given how limited rights women had in general in ancient Greece, lesbianism appears to have been looked down on. While there are hundreds of vases depicting male homoeroticism, just two depict female homoeroticism have arrived at us.
According to Metrosource, Harry Bush, a master in depicting the male body, may be the best homosexual erotic artist that the general public is unaware of. He was famously difficult to deal with and, out of spite, destroyed most of his artwork. He chastised publishers for poor copies of his works and eventually fell out with practically everyone. Bush depended heavily on his imagination. He was a hermit addicted to smokes and dependent on an oxygen tank during his most creative phase.
When obscenity restrictions were relaxed towards the end of the 1970s, additional artists stepped out to openly market their work. Bush has never done so. He had lived his entire life in terror of being outed and of his relatives disowning him and abandoning him.
Sub-collection: Dazzling gay erotic art in Imperial China:
Emperor Ai was taking a nap during the day in the later years of BCE. He was sporting a traditional long-sleeved robe. Dong Xian, a young man in his twenties, was also sleeping on one of his sleeves. The emperor loved this guy so much that when he had to get up, instead of awakening him, he cut off the sleeve of his robe.
The word of the severed sleeve quickly travelled throughout the court, prompting the emperor’s courtiers to cut one of their own sleeves in retaliation. The story’s effect lasted beyond its period, giving rise to the Chinese phrase “the passion of the slashed sleeve,” a euphemism for intimacy between two men.
According to some historians, during some imperial dynasties (such as the Han dynasty), bisexuality was the norm.
I hope you enjoyed this collection of gay erotic art. I truly enjoyed researching the topic and searching for good examples across history and some different corners of the world.
I will soon work on a less erotic collection of Lesbian paintings. Hopefully, I’ll get it done before the end of Pride month. In the meantime, I will share with you some other art-related resources from me and others.
For more on my writings on art:
37 stories about Art History and more curated by Jess the Avocado — Medium
For a collection of resources from Kamna Kirti:
Fast Track Your Art Writing With This Content Library (gumroad.com)
My two favourite publications/tabs about art on Medium:
To receive my stories in your inbox:
Art Avo | Jessica Nunzella | Substack
To support my writing:
Buy Squeeze the Avocado a Coffee. ko-fi.com/squeezetheavocado — Ko-fi ❤️
