Édouard-Henri Avril (21 May 1849 – 28 July 1928) was a French painter and commercial artist. Under the pseudonym Paul Avril, he was an illustrator of erotic literature. His career saw collaboration with influential people like Octave Uzanne, Henry Spencer Ashbee and

Friedrich Karl Forberg Friedrich Karl Forberg (30 August 1770, Meuselwitz – 1 January 1848, Hildburghausen) was a German philosopher and classical scholar. Biography Born in 1770 in Thuringia, Forberg studied under Karl Leonhard Reinhold at Jena. In 1791 he travel ...

. Avril was a soldier before starting his career in art. He was awarded with the Legion of Honour for his actions in the Franco-Prussian War.

Life

Avril was born in

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

. His father was a colonel of the

gendarmerie Wrong info! --> A gendarmerie () is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (literally, ...

. Avril himself fought and was wounded in the Franco-Prussian War before starting his studies in art. He was awarded with the Legion of Honour on 31 May 1871 for injuries sustained during the war. The injuries resulted in retirement from his military career on 23 January 1872. Biographical material of his life is scarce due to the obscene nature of his work, and because he worked under a pseudonym of "Paul Avril". His pseudonym can lead to a confusion with his brother, who was named Paul-Victor Avril, and was also an artist and worked as an engraver. Édouard-Henri Avril (6)

Octave Uzanne-L'Ombrelle-Le Gant-Le Manchon- 1883

From 1874 to 1878 he was at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He worked for the illustrated newsmagazine '' Le Monde illustré'' in 1882. Having been commissioned to illustrate Théophile Gautier's novel ''Fortunio'', he adopted the pseudonym "Paul Avril". His reputation was soon established and he received many commissions to illustrate both major authors and the so-called "galante literature" of the day, a form of erotica. However, his reputation as a commercial illustrator of novels was established before he began illustrating the more

underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground (S ...

erotic literature. These books were typically sold in small editions on a

subscription The subscription business model is a business model in which a customer must pay a recurring price at regular intervals for access to a product or service. The model was pioneered by publishers of books and periodicals in the 17th century, and ...

basis, organised by collectors. Erotica of that time received very limited prints and sometimes were limited to only 100 or so copies, or were sold only within exclusive circles of collectors. Because of the perceived obscenity of Avril and his works, it is difficult to assess the impact that his art might have had on the culture of the time. Avril died at Le Raincy, near Paris, in 1928.

Works

Avril's major work were the illustrations in 1906 for '' De Figuris Veneris: A Manual of Classical Erotica''. Another important work illustrated by Avril was John Cleland's '' Fanny Hill'' (also known as ''Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure''), which was a significant and controversial publication of its time as it was the first novel to bring erotica to

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

. The book's edition illustrated by Avril includes ''Les charmes de Fanny exposés'' that is one of his better known pictures. He illustrated such works as Gustave Flaubert's '' Salammbô'', Gautier's ''Le Roi Caundale'',

Jean Baptiste Louvet de Couvray Jean-Baptiste Louvet de Couvray (12 June 1760 – 25 August 1797) was a French novelist, playwright and journalist. Life Early life and literary works Born in Paris as the son of a stationer, Louvet became a bookseller's clerk, and first attra ...

's ''Adventures of the Chevalier de Faublas'',

Mario Uchard is a character (arts), character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in ...

's ''Mon Oncle Barbassou'' (scenes in a harem),

Jules Michelet Jules Michelet (; 21 August 1798 – 9 February 1874) was a French historian and an author on other topics whose major work was a history of France and its culture. His aphoristic style emphasized his anti-clerical republicanism. In Michelet's ...

's ''The Madam'',

Hector France Hector Nicolas Alphonse Marie France (1837–1908) was a French writer and soldier, the author of numerous stories of an erotic nature. Has also translated from English into French and from French into English. He sometimes collaborated with H ...

's ''Musk, Hashish and Blood'', the writings of

Pietro Aretino Pietro Aretino (, ; 19 or 20 April 1492 – 21 October 1556) was an Italian author, playwright, poet, satirist and blackmailer, who wielded influence on contemporary art and politics. He was one of the most influential writers of his time and a ...

, and the anonymous lesbian novel ''

Gamiani ''Gamiani, or Two Nights of Excess'' (french: Gamiani, ou deux nuits d'excès) is a French erotic novel first published in 1833. Its authorship is anonymous, but it is believed to have been written by Alfred de Musset and the lesbian eponymous h ...

''. Classicizing works illustrated by Avril include '' Oeuvres d’Horace'' (1887), Une nuit de Cléopâtre (1894), '' Daphnis et Chloé'' (1898), and '' Les sonnets luxurieux de l’Aretin'' (1904). Avril might be best known for his sapphic, or lesbian, illustrations. Prolific erotica collector Henry Spencer Ashbee commissioned Avril to design a

bookplate An ''Ex Libris'' (from ''ex-librīs'', ), also known as a bookplate (or book-plate, as it was commonly styled until the early 20th century), is a printed or decorative label pasted into a book, often on the front endpaper, to indicate ownership. ...

for him. Avril worked with Octave Uzanne, who after leaving the Société des Amis des Livres, which he found too conservative and too concerned with the reissue of old works, started two new bibliographic societies. The Société des Bibliophiles Contemporaines (1889–1894) consisted of 160 people from literary circles, including Avril.

List of works and editions illustrated

*''L'Éventail'' (1882) *''L'Ombrelle – Le Gant – Le Manchon'' (1883) *''Fortunio'' (1883) *''Adventures of the Chevalier de Faublas'' (1884) *''Mon Oncle Barbassou'' (''Scenes in a Harem'') (1884) *''Fanny Hill'' (fr. 1887, eng. 1906) *''Oeuvres d’Horace'' (1887) *''The Mirror of the World'' (1888) *''Le Roi Caundale'' (1893) *''Une nuit de Cléopâtre'' (1894) *''The Life and Adventures of Father Silas'' (1896) *''Daphnis et Chloé'' (1898) *''Musk, Hashish and Blood'' (1899) *''Les Sonnets Luxurieux de l’Aretin'' (1904) *''Gamiani'' (1905) *''De Figuris Veneris: A Manual of Classical Erotica'' (1906) *''Salammbô'' (1906) *''Histoire de Saturnin'' (1908) *''The Madam''

Gallery

File:Paul Avril - Les Sonnetts Luxurieux (1892) de Pietro Aretino, 2.jpg, Sexual intercourse in the missionary position File:Paul Avril - Les Sonnetts Luxurieux (1892) de Pietro Aretino, 6.jpg, Les Sonnets Luxurieux (1892) de

File:Paul Avril - Les Sonnetts Luxurieux (1892) de Pietro Aretino, 7.jpg, Les Sonnets Luxurieux (1892) de Pietro Aretino File:Paul Avril - Les Sonnetts Luxurieux (1892) de Pietro Aretino, 8.jpg, Les Sonnets Luxurieux (1892) de Pietro Aretino File:Paul Avril - Les Sonnetts Luxurieux (1892) de Pietro Aretino, 3.jpg, Les Sonnets Luxurieux (1892) de Pietro Aretino Image:Édouard-Henri Avril (31).jpg, Cover. Image:Édouard-Henri_Avril_(13).jpg, Missionary position. Image:Édouard-Henri Avril (23).jpg, Interior illustration. Image:Édouard-Henri Avril (22).jpg, It portrays a male masturbating while sexually fantasizing. Image:Édouard-Henri_Avril_(29).jpg, Plate XVIII. Image:Édouard-Henri Avril (28).jpg, Depiction of zoophilia. (Plate XVII) Image:Édouard-Henri Avril (30).jpg, Illustration of a foursome. Image:Édouard-Henri Avril (25).jpg, Illustration of an orgy. Image:Édouard-Henri Avril (14).jpg, Depiction of a woman on top position. Image:Édouard-Henri Avril (24).jpg, Depiction of cunnilingus in the life of

Sappho Sappho (; el, Σαπφώ ''Sapphō'' ; Aeolic Greek ''Psápphō''; c. 630 – c. 570 BC) was an Archaic Greek poet from Eresos or Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. Sappho is known for her Greek lyric, lyric poetry, written to be sung while ...

. Image:Édouard-Henri Avril (27).jpg, Dildo being used by two women. Image:Édouard-Henri Avril (18) Hadrian and Antinous in Egypt.jpg, Interpretation of Roman emperor

Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania B ...

and

Antinous Antinous, also called Antinoös, (; grc-gre, Ἀντίνοος; 27 November – before 30 October 130) was a Greek youth from Bithynia and a favourite and probable lover of the Roman emperor Hadrian. Following his premature death before his ...

engaged in anal intercourse. (Plate VII) Image:Édouard-Henri Avril (19).jpg, The placard in the lower right hand corner reads "Gnothi seauton", Socrates' admonition to his friends to "know yourself". Image:Édouard-Henri Avril (20).jpg, Fellatio scene. Image:Histoire de Saturnin - Paul Avril - 1908.jpg, Histoire de Saturnin 1908

References

External links