Shunga is a specific art form that portrays sexual union. The best known example is The Fisherman's Wife (see on my
Sexiest Art post). Here is a little about its history from this
Guardian review of an upcoming exhibition:
Having started out as paintings reserved for the upper classes in 17th century Japan, shunga were embraced by people from all backgrounds after the invention of woodblock printing enabled artists to turn out erotic images in their thousands.
That ribald brand of humour, and the clear delight artists took in mixing the preposterous with the erotic, prompted the Tokugawa shogunate to issue, in 1722, a ban on unauthorised books that included shunga.
No comments:
Post a Comment