The climax to the act of love casts an indefinable expression on the face – an expression of urgent intensity. A woman, a man, in that moment experiences an ecstasy that for an instant is visible in the eyes and on the lips. A wave of pleasure runs through the body, marking the transition between desire and orgasm. For this fleeting second, when just how violent the senses can be is laid bare, the person involved is not the same as the person immediately before or the person immediately after. With the help of prints and etchings from former centuries, …

How is it that the foot and the toes are credited with such strong sexual connotations? Do they represent something out of the ordinary to the human subconscious? How otherwise could these unremarkable parts of the body seem erotic? And what has their appeal to do with the Eternal Mystery that is Woman? Often left uncovered, in former times when total nudity was forbidden or considered unseemly, the foot and its shape allowed the imaginations of observers to roam wild. The only part of the body of a woman occasionally visible (unlike those visible normally or those never visible normally), …

The poetess Sappho did not, in any way, facilitate the relationship between men and women, with her admirable Ode to Aphrodite which celebrates the love and sexuality between two women. With the liberalization of morals, female homosexuality is part of modern society and cannot be ignored. But what does history retain from these practices? How is the love between women appreciated? By infringing on the rules of past societies, how did these women live their particularity and their forbidden sexuality? This difficult exercise, undertaken by Professor Döpp, attempts to explain these censured pleasures, without inclining towards a certain voyeurism.

Since humans first began thinking creatively – as opposed to merely procreatively – about sex, men and women have spiced up their love lives with this and that. Every civilization has come up with its own sex objects and sex toys. From rudimentarily-fashioned objects to the most exquisite ivory carvings of the Far East, eroticism has found expression in a multitude of different forms all displayed here. The beauty and the craftsmanship of these artistic masterpieces bear striking witness to the powers of generation in every culture throughout history. From works of art to sex toys, historian Hans-Jürgen Döpp analyses …

The “happy-few” aspect of the sadomasochistic relations, the fashions that have had a great impact on the population, make these practices seem somewhat commonplace. A number of magazines and films recount these sexual adventures with complete honesty. The enthusiasts are no longer exceptions. Beyond the stereotypes of women in leather boots with a whip in hand, they discover the pleasures of pain. It is a form of sexuality where pleasure looses its codification since procreation is no longer the goal. Travelling towards the limits of emotions is the theme explored by Professor Döpp, supporting his developments on an exceptional iconography.

Since The Turkish Bath (1863) by the French painter Ingres, the Far Eastern woman has to many been a symbol of pleasures out of reach or forbidden. Seafaring explorers, military adventurers and simple travellers from Europe over the centuries have all been enthralled by the exotic nature of the oriental woman, her foreignness accentuated by the gentle pallor of her skin. Thus arose the myth that she, of all women, was in possession of the knowledge of certain refined pleasures. Historically, in the traditions of both China and Japan, women have been required to respond at least acquiescently to men’s …

Die „Happy Few“ des Sado-Masochismus, dieser angeblichen „Modeerscheinung“, haben aufgrund des schockierenden Effektes ihrer sexuellen Handlungen eine große Auswirkung auf das Bewusstsein der Bevölkerung, denn zahlreiche Zeitschriften und Filme zeigen uns diese Abenteuerlichkeiten inzwischen ohne Umschweife. Die Anhänger dieser sexuellen Aktivitäten sind jedoch keine Ausnahmeerschei­nungen, denn man findet sie inmitten unserer Gesellschaft, in unserer Nachbarschaft, bei unseren Freunden oder unter unseren Arbeitskollegen. Abgesehen von den gängigen Stereotypen der “Domina” in Lederstiefeln mit einer Peitsche in der Hand entdeckt so manch einer die Freude am Leid durch das Piercing oder durch eine Sexualität, in der der Genuss seine allgemeingültigen Normen verloren …

Seit undenklichen Zeiten spielen Gegenstände beim Liebesspiel eine wichtige Rolle. In allen Kulturen und Zivilisationen beschäftigte sich die menschliche Einbildungskraft gerne mit dem Thema der Sexualität. Von den einfachsten Gegenständen bis zu den kunstvollen Elfenbeinskulpturen des fernen Ostens zeigt sich hier die erotische Kunst in ihren unterschiedlichsten Ausprägungen. Schönheit und Raffinesse der Gegenstände zeugen vom Höchststand der Kulturen und Epochen. Vom einfachen Schmuckgegenstand bis zum kompliziert wiedergegebenen Liebesspiel analysiert Professor Hans-Jürgen Döpp die verschiedenen Funktionen der erotischen Objekte und wirft dabei auch einen Seitenblick auf den Sammler und seine Freude am Besitz von so kleinen Schätzen und Prachtstücken, wie sie …

Depuis Le Bain Turc du peintre français Ingres, la femme orientale représente le plaisir et la transgression de l’interdit. L’exotisme de ces corps, différents par leur couleur ambrée, a toujours fasciné les Européens, qu’ils soient navigateurs, militaires ou simples voyageurs. Ces contrées lointaines et mystérieuses ont contribué à développer le mythe de la femme asiatique qui offre des plaisirs raffinés. Il est vrai que, dans les cultures chinoises et japonaises, la femme doit répondre au désir de l’homme. Dans la tradition, une éducation particulière lui était dispensée, loin des tabous prescrits par notre civilisation occidentale. Dans cet ouvrage très richement …