Primitive Erotic Art

Far more of our own culture than is usually recognized is based on deep-rooted sexual symbolism and ancient erotic customs. With new insight drawn from psychoanalysis and anthropology, this fully-illustrated, scholarly book explores in detail the true meaning and significance of the sexual imagery of primitive peoples.
The evolution of deep-laid human thoughts about sex and the erotic is traced through art from prehistoric times to the present, particularly by comparing ancient arts with the arts and customs of modern primitives belonging to similar stages of culture.
Between them, the seven articles in the book provide a survey of the erotic art of the main primitive cultures throughout the world; covering prehistoric art, the Celtic world, North and Central America, the Andean region, Africa and the South Seas. Each is written by an acknowledged expert and edited by an established art historian and well-known author.
Over 200 illustrations, 32 pages in full colour, augment the text and testify to the wealth of beautiful works of primitive erotic art, which are frequently highly sophisticated both in civilization and aesthetic skill.

Philip Rawson is curator at the Gulbenkian Museum of Oriental Art, University of Durham, and is an established art historian and author. His many books include among others Indian Painting, Indian Sculpture, Japanese Buddhist Paintings, The Art of Southeast Asia, Ceramics, and Tantra, and he has written and presented several television series on oriental art.