A Sade

One of a series of 10 erotic sketches, produced late in Bellmer’s career as an artist but typical of his post-war production that moved away from sculptural dolls and towards more explicit pornographic imagery and 2d representation. ‘A Sade’ is loosely inspired by Marquis de Sade and Bellmer’s admiration for the acts of violence in conjunction with desire committed by the noble, the plates commonly depicting faceless masses writhing in an orgiastic, polymorphic combination; genitalia often the only common representational reference within the twisting shapes conjured in delicate drawing.