Pics from the abyss

Looks like Odilon Redon. The snake Lady? Nice. Redon is an old favorite. I think Art Institute Chicago has a few.
How about artists and titles, if you have them?

Good idea for a thread.

It is in fact Redon - "The Green Death". Do you have his To Myself: Notes on Life, Art and Artists? I keep meaning to read it.

"Snake Lady" immediately reminds me of John Colliers' "Lilith" though: http://kaganof.com/kagablog/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/lilith.jpg

"To Myself" looks interesting. I have Odilon Redon: Prince of Dreams, a good survey.

John Collier is an interesting writer, beyond his sardonic ghost stories. I enjoyed his nice, strange and entertaining His Monkey Wife. I had to hunt for my used copy; now it seems it's in print in several editions.

Interesting - I was talking about the British painter John Collier (http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/collier_john.html) though.

So it's obvious then I disregarded the link and just gave in to my impulses? Thank you (More interesting - they seem to have occurred at the same time and on the same island, these John Colliers). (post-link visit: I like Collier's snake lady better than His Monkey Wife).

An obvious choice but John Henry Fuseli's The Nightmare

Although I wasn't too impressed on the whole with Dijkstra's Idols of Perversity, it did--just as I had hoped--lead me to a number of painters dealing with decadent themes whom I'd previously overlooked.

My review is here: http://www.librarything.com/review/46226291

What's the body in the snow?

Robert Walser, I think.

Did you have to sell the farm to get Uel Key?

Re: John Collier; I've been watching "Alfred Hitchcock Presents". Seems like 1/2 the stories are JC.

I don't own a copy, and at the price being asked, I never will (I employed a professional speech writer to sell my better half on why I should spend $150 on A House of Pomegranates). I used to love "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (and Outer Limits, etc.. Didn't Collier make the hadj to Hollywood, like Waugh, etc.?

OK, I give up. Doesn't show up on LT search. Author of "The Cold Stone Heart"? Great title.

It is one of the tales told in Wilhelm Hauff's The Inn in the Spessart. A standard fairy tale involving wisdom and the lack of it and, more importantly, encounters with the elemental wee-men of the forest.

For those of a humorous bent, check out this "Uncyclopedia" article:

http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Azathoth_and_Nyarlathotep

Great pic today, BW. Who is it by? ETA - never mind, when I blow it up I can see the signature.

It reminds me of one of the snappy songs of my youth: "That's when I reach for my revolver" (Mission of Burma).

Looks like an early version of Satan Sowing Tares by Rops. An old fav. The final version has a lot more detail
and color.

That's it. I like the bleakness. Many of Rops's colorful canvases seem like naughty cartoons.

Nothing wrong with naughty cartoons! Some of my favorite art is....
It looks like a print. Maybe a litho or etching?

Mine too!

Looks like James Ensor, but I don't think so.

When you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back ... and has really bad hair.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/07/19/emmer-ad/

It is Julio Ruelas' "The Hangman".

How come I haven't heard of Leonor Fini before?
Art history fails me again.
Thanks, Ben. She's amazing.
Leonor Fini - Le Bout du monde (1948)
http://www.librarything.com/pic/240362

Another strange, interesting Mossa.
http://www.librarything.com/pic/251843

Theda Bara:

http://hilobrow.com/2011/07/29/theda-bara/

Not what one would expect from "a nice Jewish girl from Ohio."

How about some Takato Yamamoto, and Vania Zouravliov? http://www.google.ca/search?q=Vania%20Zouravliov&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-...

VF, Je vous remercie pour cette opportunite kleptique.

Hadrian the VII would definitely have an issue with this:

http://now.msn.com/now/0406-russian-church-deception.aspx

Happy Easter from the gilt theocrats of the Holy See of the Eastern Orthodox Church

Nicholas Kalmakoff: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4055/4479076131_5a34be3de2.jpg
Luis Ricardo Falero: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Falero_Luis_Ricardo_Vision_of_Faust_1878.jpg
Suehiro Maruo: http://us.muttpop.com/var/us/storage/import/181-1-Suehiro_Maruo-original.jpg

The late not-at-all-lamented Thomas "Mephistopheles" Kinkade and his ever-present pestilential galleries of blurry cottages and Heavy Christian Overtones:

http://www.thomaskinkade.com/magi/servlet/com.asucon.ebiz.locator.web.tk.Locator...

The Abyss stares back and it's rather banal and common.

Everytime I looked at one of his paintings the first thing I thought of was that those cute little buildings were all built on a flood plain and would most certainly be wiped out with the next big storm.

An explanation for his prolific hackery is that he used to be a matte artist in Hollywood. I'd rather hang a Chapman Brothers picture in my living room, next to the Felicien Rops and Alfred Kubin

Recommended tunes to play whilst reading: http://boxset.ru/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/hamelin_scriabin_the_complete_piano_...

Hah, seeing the Jahnn cover just now gave me a turn--I opened a box containing the book not five minutes ago! Not the same edition, though. Would've been too much.

Hermes passed by ;)

Original litho crayon drawing from a few years ago.

http://www.librarything.com/pic/281605

Oh Christ - watermarked! Can't steal it now! Good stuf!

Got to watch out for art thieves, amigo!

Very nice. If I could have one wish granted that wish would be to be able to draw.

Gracias, amigos.
I've drawn all my life, mostly figure drawing.
The human figure is the ultimate challenge and subject,
especially the female of the species, extremely difficult to draw well.

> 28 (tros):

Sorry for being so late to respond, but - the one Leonor Fini form my modest collection

"Le train blanc" (lithograph) http://www.librarything.com/pic/3320539

I Dream of Eastern Shame Girl.

The current pic will get me in trouble at work.

Me too. Put Redon's Smiling Spider back

Private web use in the boss's time - shame on you ;-)

Beset and besieged! I feel like Willard. Damned protestants. (I was at home, on lunch :)

Howdy Doody?

I vote for Mahlon Blaine.

I'm thinking of having the profile picture of VolupteFunebre as my wallpaper, speaking of trouble at work!

Copy cat.

She's quite the looker, that one.

From the looks of it, she's turned into a mannequin. I prefer monocles to mannequins, but that's just me. ;)

God damn that Belgian book looks expensive. But now that I know of it how can I resist?

I held off for awhile - but the contents are quite good and nowhere else anthologized, to my knowledge.

Nice! Are there any stories in The Magician's Garden and Other Stories not in Opium?

No - same book, but a hard cover edition. There is a film based on the stories in this book by the way, Opium: Diary of a Madwoman - by János Szász. My copy came today.

The latest has me itching for a set of colored markers and a black light. In a good way.

What is the unexpected love lesson about? Is it collectible?

Collectively collectable? I'm not certain. I don't think it's a very common book these days. It's a brief and commonplace tale of a career of sexual sport from the from the 1700s. It certainly sits (or squats) well in the lazy reads section (growing as fast a canker) of my library. There are several of Nerciat's amusingly smutty novels available in in English (I posted the French version in a .pdf this morning in another thread in this group). You might also consider the Memoirs of Cardinal Dubois (translated by Dowson and published by Leonard Smithers). From what I gather the man was a study in compulsive, soul-withering, dissipation. He was also a statesman, so the book has some value beyond its tawdry catalogs of debaucheries - which is why I purchased it, of course.

I can post a list of these 18th century libertine novels, if anyone is interested. I'm not certain if I have them all conveniently tagged, so it might take some time. I am thinking particularly of a series published in London by Chapman & Hall in the 20s... I know I have a title or so from that series. Also, before I forget - Felicien Rops provided a few curious illustrations for editions of Nerciat published in the late 19th century.

Mmm, I was going to get that vampire Chessex. How was it? Based on true events in some Swiss village?

A "hot" mermaid by Waterhouse.

http://www.librarything.com/pic/3390061

66: Yes - very good, quick read. Grotesque events, based on real events, according to the blurb on the back of the book. Like Muschg (and Faulkner and Cormac McCarthy), a sketch of a mean and isolated and irrational world where monsters are cultivated as well as (in)bred. There is the usual xenophobia and ingrained superstition, but the focus is on a morbid or even macabre sexuality exuding from and lingering over the place, like a poisonous atmosphere: rampant rapes, incest, necrophilia.

I had never heard of Chessex until I read your post in The Hellfire Club. Thank you!

You're welcome; always delighted to bring rapes, incest and necrophilia into one's life--and let's face it, you've returned the favour many times.

Well, I have been around the block a few times, re the above - but, to quote Mick Somethingorother once again, Chessex made it feel like the very first time (Didn't Zola write a novel in which a character, strolling along the boulevards of Paris, passes the time by trying to discern at which establishment random passersby took their daily meals, based on traces of various forms of poisoning etched in their features? I think I suffer from a sort of aural poisoning. Those hated FM anthems of my youth are the only ones I can't forget. I should play them backwards some time....).

Vampira:

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ljakbh4YNx1qc9creo1_500.jpg

Decadence lives on in Fifties Horror kitsch.

Came across a handful of amazing images of Weimar-era decadence by Marta Astfalck-Vietz online - anyone know more about her?

She has a Wikipedia page (in German): http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marta_Astfalck-Vietz. Not very informative though.

What's in those American Aphrodite journals?

Some mild smut and some interesting things: http://www.philsp.com/homeville/fmi/t140.htm#BOT

In the link that I pasted, you will find stories and poems by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, Josephin Peladan, Petrus Borel, George Sylvester Viereck, H. A. Manhood, Aleister Crowley, Edgar Saltus, etc., and the artwork of Rops and Blaine and others.

The Josephin Peladan one looks very tempting as precious little by him is translated.

Scattered throughout the volumes are many of Sacher-Masoch's short stories as well. Those also are hard to come by. I'm 2 volumes shy of a full run... in so many ways.

The gender subversive Claude Cahun:

http://hilobrow.com/2012/10/25/claude-cahun/

75. Wow. Thanks. What a treasure trove. I know what I'll be doing this weekend. I think I'll start with the Peladan. I've wanted to read something by him for ages.

Nice find on the Borel! I guess it's not coming out on Black Coat Press after all. I like how the title on the cover is misspelled lol.

Damn cheesy cover as well - more so even than the Black Coat Press titles. An atrocity. Of sorts.

Hello everyone.
On the subject of Pics from the Abyss, here's a few links to working artists who plough the Abyssmal furrow:
http://xeeming.deviantart.com/gallery/ - his pencil work especially.
http://offermoord.deviantart.com/gallery/ - has moments of Ropsness, for instance "Nuns of Loudun".
http://livingrope.deviantart.com/gallery/ - check out his "Mother", as it were.
http://michaelbrack.deviantart.com/gallery/ - B&W or colour, his pictures are always perfectly balanced.
http://amartinsdebarros.deviantart.com/gallery/ - especially his peoplefaces - you'll know what I mean when you see them.

John Kirby Self-Portrait:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LNThImPfXsQ/SGTfF4h64eI/AAAAAAAADcM/ywlmSyW1wY0/s400/d...

This is on my Grove edition of Our Lady of the Flowers

"ooh-la-la!"

85: But I can't find this Grove version on ye olde Interwebs. Here's Kirby's take on a Catholic triptych:

http://www.liverpool.com/art/review:-john-kirby-the-living-and-the-dead-at-the-w...

Jean Béraud, 'Symphony in Red and Gold' (1895)

http://25.media.tumblr.com/cbc5d556fff5473b9d83471b7902e56a/tumblr_mjcbhti0rx1ri...

Gyula Benczúr, 'Cleopatra' (1911)

http://24.media.tumblr.com/33239890e7e5246fdc6a89c0d82d85a7/tumblr_mj4v4cjWnC1ri...

Ferencz Eisenhut, 'Before Punishment' (1890)
http://25.media.tumblr.com/47e40a8aa30a404902a1be5730943614/tumblr_mnid68r2Qd1ri...

"Frau Feek" by Franz von Stuck:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Stuck_Portrait_Frau_Feez_1900...

Karl Mediz, 'Red Angel' (1902)

http://25.media.tumblr.com/f7b4e83b2fdb84f1febefa7e0a053511/tumblr_mox99jL4SD1rv...

The guy has a great set of wings.

And nice pair of melons.

AW, you....

Uh, oh... Just pointing out the obvious, something I'm very good at.

The Mahound by Lance Horner:

http://s1219.photobucket.com/user/EKG_books/media/5SPB/01/04/409.jpg.html

A saucy Robbe-Grillet cover:

http://hilobrow.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/robbe.jpg

Cesare Borgia from the show of the same name:

http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/24800000/Cesare-Borgias-francois-arnaud-a...

"He can polish my mitre any time."

Nikolaos Gyzis, 'The Spider' (1884)

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m7viswOmqP1r3fkjno1_1280.jpg

Pierre Amédée Marcel Beronneau, 'Femme au Serpent', c. 1906

http://25.media.tumblr.com/eda1015fc41a45d3138296a6ac58d305/tumblr_mqls87sBLl1r3...

I visited the Musée d'Orsay last week. On the right side of the entrance there is a fabulous collection of Fin de siecle art, including the portrait of Proust by Blanche, the portrait of Robert de Montesquiou (Baron de Charlus in Proust's novels) by Boldini, lots of paintings by Toulose-Lautrec. They had on loan a painting by Gustave Moreau, La Débauche:

Where would one put Michael Moorcock and his decadent amoral aristocrat warrior, Elric of Melnibone?

http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1265760616l/102287.jpg

Some hash party! Damn!

Hashish (The Hashish Smokers), by Previati Gaetano, 1887

http://www.librarything.com/pic/4261534

Jan Frans DeBoever

https://www.librarything.com/pic/4350019

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Frans_De_Boever

RIP HR Giger, the Swiss artist of decadently erotic biomechanical nightmares and dreamscapes:

http://www.avclub.com/article/rip-hr-giger-creator-alien-nightmares-204603

A modern Des Esseintes shouldn't be without one of these:

https://giger.com/gallery/harkonnen-giger-chair.jpg

Perfect for the on-the-go executive who occasionally rips out the beating hearts of orphans and scullery maids, bathing himself in the blood of innocents amidst the wail of haggard coyotes and ... well, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Luckily, his depraved vision lives on with artists like Kuksi:

http://arrestedmotion.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Kris-Kuksi-Liner-AM-25.jpg

merry xmas?

http://www.librarything.com/pic/4644399

More profundity from Zippy the Pinhead:

http://zippythepinhead.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/2014/images/121114.gif

Alméry Lobel-Riche - Les Diaboliques

http://www.librarything.com/pic/4660323

"Romance" by Nenslo:

http://www.subgenius.com/donna/Romance.GIF

(From the official site of the Church of the SubGenius)

Herbert James Draper

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_James_Draper

Herbert James Draper - the water nymph

http://www.librarything.com/pic/4672102

Images of my new book, The NSFW Files: an appreciation of erotica in literature and comics:

http://www.cclapcenter.com/2015/01/check_out_cclaps_newest_book_k_1.html

Check out the limited edition hardcover:

http://www.cclapcenter.com/nsfwfiles/nsfwhm.jpg

It's like one of those beautifully produced smutty gems made in the Victorian era and until the 1920s, tiny print runs for "discerning customers" with deep pockets and jaded tastes:

http://www.cclapcenter.com/nsfwfiles/nsfwhm.jpg

Congratulations!

"Embargo" by Vonn Stropp:

http://cdn-images.9cloud.us/952/piccit_embargo_by_vonn_strpp_943748639.jpg

When amateurs mistake cold steel for fashion accessories:



Nils Dardel (Swedish, 1888–1943), Dandy med svärd {Dandy with sword}.

113: Not to be confused with "Blue Steel," by Derek Zoolander:

https://robattack.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/zoolander-blue-steel-1200-x-791-67...

113. This image reminds me of the story "The Permanent Stiletto" by W.C. Morrow

Rosaleen Norton

http://www.librarything.com/pic/4797269

anyone read the stories?

Received the book: it's nicely designed - dj art is by the author, as are several illustrations within. The appendix includes several stories by her husband. More after I've read it.

The Johann Strauss II Memorial:

Maybe change your pic size. It's enormous. Beautiful, but enormous!

For those who enjoyed Voluptuous Panic, Mel Gordon has a new coming out in October, Horizontal Collaboration, about the erotic world of Paris between 1920 and 1946.

a few more Rops

http://www.librarything.com/pic/5199699

Salammbo by Almery Lobel-Riche

http://www.librarything.com/pic/5202317

John Brown by Joe Coleman:

http://www.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/johnbrown_small.jpeg

Serafino Macchiati (Italian, 1861-1916), Paul Verlaine, Bibi la Purée et Stéphane Mallarmé au café Procope (1890)

The interior of the Tom of Finland House in Echo Park, Los Angeles:

http://media.gq.com/photos/56cb4a2b154b2d0e6b124e41/16:9/pass/TomHouse_p114-115....

Renzo Mongiardino, the Architect of Illusion, a story from the NY Times T Magazine:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/06/t-magazine/renzo-mongiardino-architect.html

He did set design for Franco Zeffirelli and Visconti. If The Chapel of the Abyss was going to have an interior decorator, I'd nominate Mongiardino.

Employing lush romanticism and arcane classical references pulled from a magic bag of artificial effects, he enabled a certain sector of the very rich to make their own mark on the 20th century.

Inkwell designed by Sarah Bernhardt:

https://babylonbaroque.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/sarah-bernhardt-inkwell-1.jpg

Good lord. An early pioneer of the head shop school!

Is it a self-portrait? I'm dire altogether at recognising faces but the hair makes me think that it might be Bernhardt herself.

Not a single image, but have recently again opened Beyond Time and Place: Nonrealist Art in the Nineteenth Century, which has something of the abyss about it & might well appeal. Going for a song on amazon--is often had for 1p on UK amazon in fact--and worth considering for the (mostly b&w) illustrations alone, though the text is very good. Not only does it thank god give little attention to the pre-Raphaelites but author includes lesser-known artists I knew of only because I had art history classes &, unexpectedly, works by Victor Hugo and by Strindberg.

From the new book Morbid Curiosities by Paul Gambino:

http://www.laurenceking.com/media/catalog/product/cache/2/thumbnail/920x920/040e...

The incomparable Richard Sandler:

http://www.dirtyharrry.com/2016/05/richard-sandler.html

Street-photographer who captured the go-go spirit of NYC during the heyday of cocaine and Donald Trump actually having money.