Of all the artists and portfolios included in our choice of artworks, this is one of the most enigmatic. The Spanish name is witty – ‘D. Taddeo de las Pelotas Tiesas’ translates as (Dom/Reverend) Thaddeus of the Tight Balls. The only portfolio appearing under this obvious pseudonym is the Première escapade du Prince Eversharp, a mixture of French and English. And yet if anything the style and technique of the highly-accomplished multicoloured plates seem more German than French or Spanish, similar to the 1920s work of artists like Otto Greiner or Michel Fingesten. It is more than likely that the multicultural references are a deliberate ploy to avoid censorship, which would have been especially important if the artist was indeed German.

If anyone has any more clues as to the identity of this clearly skilled and talented artist, we would love to hear from you.

Similar artists

Marcus Behmer – German illustrator of refined fin-de-siècle erotic and literary subjects.
Carlo – French illustrator of 1930s spanking and flagellation subjects.
J.B. de Lapin – 1920s etcher of dark erotic prints.
Amadeus Dier – Austrian etcher in the Bayros tradition.
Michel Fingesten – Austrian-Italian etcher of refined erotic-fetishistic subjects.
Franz von Bayros – Austrian fin-de-siècle illustrator of refined fetishistic subjects.