Franz von BAYROS

Tales of The Dressing Table

16 x 16½ inches

A group of four erotic lithographs by Franz von Bayros (1866- 1924) published in Germany in 1908 as a series entitled Choisy le Conin.

Each picture depicts ladies exploring their sexuality in various ways and with the aid of objects as diverse as an ornate hand mirror, a troop of toy soldiers and a rather large plank of wood. Von Bayros was born in Zagreb in 1866 but moved to Vienna to study art. He became a follower of the English artist Aubrey Beardsley and a passionate supporter of The Decadent Movement in art that spread across Europe towards the end of the nineteenth century in direct opposition to much official art that was both conservative in its taste and subject matter. Much of von Bayros’s output is highly erotic in the themes it explores and the images it portrays; something that led him into trouble with the authorities and caused censorship of much of his work. His publications were frequently banned for being subversive and even today his images, whilst providing titillation to many, can still cause offense. The Decadent Movement, unsurprisingly, originated in France in the late nineteenth century and was rooted in its opposition to the bourgeois and a fascination with the esoteric, morbid and perverse. In England its chief exponents were Oscar Wilde and Aubrey Beardsley.

£1600