The idea for this book was born in the course of a visit through the Louvre, when Catherine Belanger ventured to call the Louvre the biggest brothel in the world. Jointly with Jean Galard, 62 key works of painting were selected from five centuries to illustrate the fascinating art of the depiction of the nude and the artists' struggle for acceptance of the nude in art and society.
In his photos, Lois Lammerhuber detaches the nudity, sensuality and sexuality of the paintings from the context of their artistic intention, conceiving them as "material" in a fictive photo studio and recreating them. He resorts to these "models" to translate them into the language of fashion, nude and advertising photography, reading their body language and interaction in a way reminding of artists like Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton, Horst P. Horst or Herb Ritts - sensual and unexpected.
The images are accompanied by a text by Jean Galard reflecting this approach from an art historical and philosophical point of view.
The design of the book is based on the wish to create a box suggesting that it contains some artistic secret; bound in black silk, with a ribbon recalling lingerie, it reveals when opened a wine-red silky interior, similar to a boudoir, in which the book is resting, soft and velvety.
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