What’s new
Erotic realism
16th February 2026
The naked bodies of Latvian artist Auseklis Baušķenieks carry an erotic charge precisely because they resist spectacle. People inhabit their bodies as they might rooms, conversations, rituals, asking what being naked really means. See Baušķenieks’s work now by clicking here.
The real thing
12th February 2026
Today’s new artist is the groundbreaking Swede Anders Zorn, who in the 1880s and 90s led the way in painting and etching real naked women in real settings rather than endless Dianas and Venuses. Daring and scandalous at the time, we can now appreciate his skill and honesty. See Zorn’s work now by clicking here.
Very little French dressing
10th February 2026
Another almost forgotten French illustrator is today’s new artist, Maurice Leroy, who produced artwork for more than twenty titles during the 1930s and 40s including several erotic classics like Le Bon Plaisir and Chansons de Bilitis. See a great selection of his work now by clicking here.
What sexy fun!
8th February 2026
Claes Oldenburg is best known for his massive, playful pop art sculptures, but he demonstrated the same wit and imagination in sketchbooks full of hilarious, brilliantly executed erotic drawings. You can read all about Claes Oldenburg by clicking here and see his work here.
Chéri
6th February 2026
Colette’s semi-autobiographical novel Chéri, about difficult liaisons, published in 1920, was illustrated twenty years later by one of our favourite artists, Léon Courbouleix. You can see all the illustrations by clicking here – it might inspire you to read the book!
An update on the 700 Artists Appeal
5th February 2026
Well folks – we (well, you) did it! Our 700 Artists Appeal has raised £795.56, which goes a long way towards the £1000 or so it costs every year in hosting and domain registration for the honesterotica website. And we’ve made the draw for the winner of the print, who lives in Manchester, England – their framed print (from Amandine Doré’s Florilége) is on the way.
If you were planning to donate but haven’t quite got round to it, you still can with a PayPal payment to [email protected] (full details by clicking here). We need you as much as you need us!
THANK YOU ALL!
All about Eve
4th February 2026
Today’s new artist is the American Ruth Marten, with her sensuous reworkings of 1920s photographs of the Parisian Folies Bergère dancers, imagining their true dreams and aspirations. Read about Ruth Marten and her work now by clicking here and see the All About Eve portfolio by clicking here.
In her praise
1st February 2026
One of Aristide Maillol’s early commissions, in 1939, was to illustrate Paul Verlaine’s Chansons pour Elle, poems about women, passion and desire. His spare, stylish woodcuts are a perfect complement to Verlaine, and you can see them all now by clicking here.
O yes or O no?
30th January 2026
The Story of O includes multiple scenes of bondage, domination and sexual exploitation – yet it was written by a woman, and is now illustrated by another, today’s new artist Natalie Frank. Porn fantasy or liberatory choice? You decide about O by clicking here for the artist and here for the portfolio.
Toujours amours
28th January 2026
André Dignimont is one of our favourite illustrators. and today we bring you one of his last commissions, for Paul Léautaud’s candid autobiography of youthful Parisian love in the early 1900s. See all the images from Amours now by clicking here.
Important recent updates
✨ Illustrator and portfolio lists
One of the most common requests we get (and the responses to the recent questionnaire confirm this) is that it would be really useful to have complete listings of all the artists and portfolios on the website – as of May 2026 728 artists and 2,003 portfolios!
So we’ve listened and heard … and by following this link you will find files with these listings in alphabetical order (and where there are several portfolios with the same name their artists will be in order too). The lists are in PDF format, so you can download, save and search them. They duplicate what you can already find in the artist and portfolio listings on the website, but if you’re really into erotic art and illustration and would like a quick ready reference, you should find these invaluable. Enjoy!
✨ Helping you to find your way around
You asked for it, we’ve done it – all the artists on the site now have a set of ‘Similar artists’ links at the end of their biography, so whether it’s bookplate artists, spanking artists, gay artists, whatever, you can cruise easily from artist to similar artist. Have fun!
✨ Hans-Jürgen Döpp, 1940–2025
Few people have shared their wisdom, experience – and wonderful collection of erotic art – more than Hans-Jürgen Döpp, who sadly died last year at the age of 84. For more than half a century Hans-Jürgen devoted himself to the study and collection of erotic art, not as a marginal curiosity or a private indulgence, but as an essential part of human culture. Through his work as a scholar, teacher, curator, author and collector, he helped establish erotic art as a serious field of artistic and historical enquiry. He was an enthusiastic supporter of honesterotica, sharing more than 200 of his portfolios with us, helping to make the website a unique resource of erotic art that would otherwise have been lost to the world. Read our tribute to Hans-Jürgen here.
✨ The difficult mirror
Artists, childhood, and the challenge of looking
At a time of growing concern about online child safety, we are very aware of how we handle the sensitive subject of depictions of children in art, especially ‘erotic art’. We have added an important Themes and Topics article here, which helps explore how artists over time have depicted naked children, and why it is as important to think seriously about what art is for and how we look at and experience it as about what is actually being depicted. Read the piece and see what you think.