Museum In Paris Explores History of Prostitution Through Art

The first major art show about Parisian prostitution will open at Musee d’Orsay in Paris,  Splendor and Misery: Images of Prostitution 185-1910, named after Honoré de Balzac’s novel The Splendors and Miseries of Courtesans.

Major artists in the show include Henride Toulouse-Lautrec, Edgar Degas, Pablo Picasso, Edourd Manet, Edvard Munch, and Vincent van Gough.

One rooms contains “The Armchair Of Love”, a brocaded chair with stirrups that can accommodate three people. It was built for naughty King Edward VII to use when he was in town for a threesome.

Several paintings depict life at the bordello and rare photos capture vintage behind-the-scenes moments. There were three levels of prostitution: the first was street walker, second was bordello girl, and third was the courtesan at the top of the hierarchy. According to The New York Times, courtesans were often showered with jewels by married aristocrats who “kept” them in elegant mansions.

“The world’s oldest profession seen through the eyes of art” also includes sculpture, decorative arts, and is accompanied by a 45 Euro art book that makes an interesting conversation piece on a coffee table.

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Anka Radakovich is a legendary Sex Columnist, Certified Sexologist, Sex Educator, Screenwriter, and Author of the book THE WILD GIRLS CLUB, PART 2, Tales from New York to Hollywood. THE WILD GIRLS CLUB, Part 2 is her third book. Her first two books, The Wild Girls Club; Tales from below the Belt, and Sexplorations; Journeys to the Erogenous Frontier were both published by Crown/Random House. She was the Sex Columnist for DETAILS Magazine for 9 years and currently writes columns for Brides.com and Los Angeles Magazine. Her writing has appeared in dozens of magazines including Marie Claire, Women’s Health, Men’s Health, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Redbook, Men's Journal, Seventeen, Glamour, and Maxim. She has appeared on numerous television shows including 8 appearances with Conan O’Brien. She was a Jeopardy question under the category “Men’s Mags.” As a Sex Educator and Sexologist, she is a college lecturer at Universities throughout the country who offers her unique brand of sex education. Follow her on Twitter @ankarad.

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