Oral Sex Art
Betty Dodson (born 1929) was trained as a fine artist in the 1950s, and in 1968 had her first show of erotic art at the Wickersham Gallery in New York City. In the 1970s, she quitted her art career and began studying..
(fellatio) scenes appear rarely in shunga has to do with the portrayal of exaggerated male organs. In the Edo period a small mouth was considered an element of feminine beauty. A combination of the two was simply not doable, although artists did find ways around this to show oral stimulation as we can see in the rare examples below…
‘Fellatio‘ (c.1838) from the series ‘Hana no miyakoji‘ by Utagawa Kunisada
Below you can check out the sensual images of a rare complete book series by Utagawa Kunisada. The title is ‘ Aki no Nanakusa (The Seven Flowers of Autumn)’ and the year of production is 1832. Size (book..
(1797-1861)
A completely naked male is leaning forwards while resting on his hands while the courtesan is performing fellatio on him.
‘Female performing fellatio‘ from the series ‘Nezamedoko ikuyo no mutsugoto‘ by Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865)
A couple in a similar pose as the previous Kunisada design with the man lighting the lantern behind them and his female lover performing oral sex on him.
‘Pose 69‘ (c.1853) from the series ‘Shikido 18 kajo’ by Utagawa Kuniyoshi
Although I dived deep into my shunga library (which lacks very few books on the subject) and also thoroughly researched the internet about the ehon (book) below, I unfortunately could not find much background..
(1797-1861)
A rare Kuniyoshi
Kuniyoshi (1797-1861) famous for his Suikoden Heroes series was also gifted at representing erotic imagery. He is responsible for designing some of the boldest examples in subject and form. The Kuniyoshi prints for..
design with the couple performing mutual oral sex in the sixty-nine pose.
‘Mutual oral sex‘ (c.1848-1854) from the series ‘Shunshoku Irifune nikki‘ by Utagawa Kunimori II (act. ca.1830–1861)
An intimate couple focusing on each other’s genitals. The big gold-lacquered screen behind them portrays a spring scene with swallows and peonies. A nice detail is the foot of the woman directing the man’s hand.
Meiji/Taisho
The Taisho era (1912-1926) artist who designed this shunga album was clearly influenced by 19th century masters such as Kuniyoshi , Kunisada and Hokusai . He (most probably not a she*) mimics the postures of the..
era painting of an intimate couple in the 69 pose
Below you can find two scenes depicting cunnilingus…
‘Male using his tongue to stimulate to the geisha
During their training, before becoming a competent and accepted geisha, the young maidservants (aka. maiko* or kamuro** ) learned the trade by attending the geishas of the highest class ( oiran ). The relationship..
’s genitals‘ (c.1820) attrib. to Katsukawa Shunsen (1762-1830)
‘Young monk
The young boy depicted here is a so called temple page (‘ chigo ‘ or ‘ terakosho ‘ ), they were available to monks, who were regarded without censure as among the most avid adherents to the so..
performing cunnilingus‘ (c.1890) by an anonymous Meiji artist
‘Young Buddhist monk performing oral sex‘ (c.1890s) attributed to Takeuchi Keishu (1861-1942)
‘Couple in the 69 pose underneath a mosquito-net
In the mise-en-scène of the shunga idiom the different seasons could be conveyed for instance by the snow in the background, seasonal clothing, popular festivals, specific flowers, an incense burner would indicate..
‘ (c.1900) by an unknown Meiji artist
‘Couple in the 69 pose‘ (c.1850) by Utagawa Kunimori II (act. ca. 1848-1860)
‘Pose 69‘ (c.1899) by Ikeda Terukata (1883-1921)
‘Mutual oral sex‘ (c.1900)
Painting of a ‘Couple in the 69 pose’ (c.1910s) by an unknown artist
‘Male licking the private parts of his female lover‘ (c.1840) attributed to Kuniyoshi
‘Mutual oral sex‘ (c.18oo) from the Kitagawa (Utamaro
Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806) is among the five greatest ukiyo-e masters. His refined portrayal of female beauty is virtually unmatched. At the end of his career his work suffered from an artistic decline except for..
) school
‘Oral sex art‘ (c.1822) from the series ‘Ōyogari no koe (Call of Geese Meeting at Night)‘ by Utagawa Toyokuni
This time we’ll have a closer look at a striking shunga series that is available in our gallery that was most probably designed by the ukiyo-e master Utagawa Toyokuni I (1769-1825), who was the founder of the..
(1769-1825)
Scroll painting ‘Aristocratic female performing oral sex‘ (late 17th century)by unknown “primitive” artist
‘A male, only sporting his fundoshi (underwear), is performing cunnilingus on a courtesan‘ (c.1820s) by an unknown Osaka artist
‘Candid fellatio‘ (c.1850) by Utagawa school
‘Couple performing 69 pose‘ (c.1850) by Utagawa school
‘Geisha performing fellatio on a young client‘ (c.1850s) attrib. to Koikawa Shozan
Koikawa Shozan (1821-1907) was a prolific artist* and was active in both the Edo period as the Meiji period. Although his shunga work relies heavily on that of his contemporaries, he created a lot of imaginative..
‘Couple performing mutual oral sex‘ (Meiji era).
‘Close-up of a couple performing oral sex on each other‘ (c.1930) by an unknown Japanese artist
‘A black man (most probably an Ethiopian) performing cunnilingus on a high-class courtesan. She embraces his mysterious private parts.’ (c.1855) from the series ‘Shunkyo karami-dako (Spring Games: Grappling Octopus
In addition to one of our most read articles about the influence of Hokusai’s iconic The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife on a whole new genre called Tentacle Erotica (shokushu goukan 触手強姦, aka. Tentacle..
)‘ by Utagawa Kunisada II
Another impression from the previous Kunisada II design with text
‘A Westerner
After a relatively liberal period after 1543, in which the interactions between foreigners and the Japanese were fairly flexible, the Tokugawa shogunate introduced stricter regulations from 1639. Dejima –..
sporting sideburns performingcunnilingus on a Japanese geisha.’ (c.1890) by an unknown Meiji artist
‘A male performing oral sex while the female caresses his penis
The over-sizing of the organs is a feature of shunga , but they are not depicted as universally large. More realistically sized ones appear, mostly on younger people or on the very old. Shunga provokes the adult..
with her toes. In the front, a female is enjoying herself with a harigata tied to her heel‘ (c.1840s) by Utagawa school
‘Nude
When the French painter, sculptor and drawer Alain ‘Aslan’ Bourdain (1930-2014) was 12, he already made his first sculptures after putting aside money to obtain two soft stones. The Bordeaux-born..
‘An experienced geisha performs fellatio on a young male client‘ (c.1765) ‘Ehon haru no yume’ by Kikukawa Hidenobu (active 1760s–1770s), (Source: ‘Сюнга. Откровенное искусство Японии / Shunga. Explicit art of Japan‘, 2016. Authors: A. E. Pushakova, K. G. Danelya)
Rare close-up of a ‘male performing oral sex‘ (c.1825) from the series ‘Kon kurabe tama no ase‘ by Utagawa Sadashige (Source: ‘Сюнга. Откровенное искусство Японии / Shunga. Explicit art of Japan‘, 2016. Authors: A. E. Pushakova, K. G. Danelya)
‘Male laborer performing cunnilingus on a female colleague‘ (c.1850) by Utagawa school
‘Young female beauty performing oral sex on a young male lover‘ (c.1860) from the series ‘Sankai hikan (The Secret Scroll of the Three Vaginas)‘ by Utagawa Kunisada II (1823-1880)