Erotic Art History – Martin van Maële
This month in Erotic Art History we’ll be learning about Martin van Maële. We actually won’t be learning a whole lot as not much was known about this artist. He was born Maurice François Alfred Martin van Miële on October 12, 1863 in Boulogne sur Seine, France. The name Martin van Maële was the surname he would use for his erotic arts and was actually a mix of his parents last names. His father, Louis Alfred Martin (who was an engraver) and his Mother Virginie Mathilde Jeanne van Maële.
(warning: some of the illustrations from this artist might be a bit shocking or disturbing)
Martin van Maële’s art career seems to have started around 1901 as he began to illustrate for novels and poetry books. Some of his clients where H.G. Wells book Les Premiers Hommes dans la Lune (The First Men in the Moon) in 1901 and Edger Allen Poe’s Dix contes in 1912 as well as a long list of others. While these where some popular artistic jobs for Martin van Maële he’s probably best known for his erotic publishing’s, which where done in secret.
I wonder if he was commissioned to them or if he just wanted to. I’ve posted here a collection of his works that I found as I wandered around the internet. There are a good amount here from one of his erotic works called La Grande Danse macabre des vifs which was published in 1905.
Play Asia
March 15th, 2012 at 7:35 am
Geee…. Pedophilia, unbirth… tentacle ?(I dun even know what that one is really) and beastiality…. And people think people were innocent back in the day… 😛 I wonder if his stuff made its way to japan and made a influence…
*snerks* Perverts exist now and perverts existed before, if people were innocent and all that crap, well… the world would not be so damn overpopulated.
March 15th, 2012 at 9:16 pm
Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend or anything with this artist. When I saw his work I thought that he would be a good choice because his work seemed so controversial. I never would have imagined that people would have wanted pictures like this 100 years ago let along get them published. I can only imagine that this happened before any real censorship laws came about. With the next artist I pick, I’ll tone it down a bit. ^_^
March 16th, 2012 at 7:32 am
Lawl nah, who said I was offended teehee. Just… noting that huh, yeah, that stuff did exist when porn was *supposed* to be ankles or something strange like that. I’m finding these interesting if none the less. And somehow, while pedophile gives me the creeps(reasons, no I myself wasn’t affected but..a friend was) Those… don’t. I am glad FA banned cubs in sexual situations tho.
March 15th, 2012 at 11:04 am
I wonder if the lady with the geese is supposed to be fantasizing (she doesn’t look too disappointed by the attention that she is getting), or if it is just supposed to be a fantastic scene.
Great find, here. Not surprised to learn that he used a pseudonym–it’s a lot of risque/bizarre stuff. I have to say that I am really enjoying these history lessons.
March 15th, 2012 at 9:11 pm
From the research I did it seems that his pictures where to be satirical or surreal. But yeah… they are both risque and bizarre.
March 15th, 2012 at 3:04 pm
Pretty disturbing stuff. Too bad this guy missed the internet by 90 years. He’d be right at home here.
March 15th, 2012 at 9:09 pm
No kidding eh. I guess he was just before his time in a strange way.
March 16th, 2012 at 8:27 pm
Some things never change.
Human nature is a strange thing unto itself.
March 18th, 2012 at 9:57 pm
Indeed. It’s foolish to assume that the filth that we know now is specific to our time. It’s been around for centuries.