Madrid exhibition explores depictions of eroticism in art

(AFP PHOTO/DOMINIQUE FAGET)

An exhibition which opens Tuesday in Madrid explores how eroticism has inspired works of art throughout centuries, from paintings and sculptures to, more recently, photographs and videos.

The roughly 120 items, including a painting by Pablo Picasso, a sculpture by Auguste Rodin and a photograph by Man Ray, depict erotic icons and myths such as the birth of Venus and the Biblical story of Adam and Eve.

The exhibition, called "The Tears of Eros", will be on view at the CaixaForum and Thyssen-Bornemisza museums in Madrid, in the city's famous "golden triangle" of art, until January 31.

"We are seeking to draw a wide audience to this exhibition which can be appreciated by a private spectator without the need for any explanation because everyone knows the myths which were chosen," said the curator of the exhibit and artistic director of the Thyssen-Bornemisza, Guillermo Solana.

"We are trying to establish a dialogue between the big masters of the past and contemporary artists," added Solana, who recalled that the 19th century was a period of "review and re-evaluation of Christian and Graeco-Latin myths".

Among the works that will be on display is a painting of bondage scenes by Gustave Dore, a painting by Andy Warhol of Dracula's kiss, and a photograph by Cindy Sherman of herself depicted as a "femme fatale" holding a man's head in one of her hands.

The exhibit gets its name from an art book by the same name by French author Georges Bataille published in 1961 which explores the relationship between visual art, eroticism, violence and death.