Most popular items April 2010

Linda Lusardi

Here are the most popular searched items for April (last month's ranking in brackets).

1 (2) Linda Lusardi. Climbs one place to the top with three times the searches of number two.
2 (1) Pubic Wars. Drops one this month.
3 (3) Louann Fernald. Third for the fourth month in a row.
4 (7) Melodye Prentiss. Back up again.
5 (4) Elizabeth Ann Roberts. Drops another place this month.
6 (5) Sue and Louise Elvin. Mother and daughter stay in contention.
7 (12) Evelyn Treacher. big climb for first US edition Pet.
8 (8) Lani Todd. Same as last month for Playmate.
9 (-) Sofia Helqvist. Highest new entry for Swedish royal's fancy woman.
10 (6) Alenka Bikar. Easily the most popular sportswoman on the site.
11 (9) Polynesian Girls. Just drop out of the top ten this month.
12 (11) Gloria Root. Down one for sixties Playmate.
13 (-) Jennifer Lewis: Cyber-girl returns after time in the wilderness.
14 (15) Marie Louise O'Murphy. Boucher's nude by royal appointment.
15 (14) Stephanie McLean. Holding steady for Penthouse's first pubic Pet.
16 (16) Ulla Lindstrom. The Sun's first Page 3 girl stays in top 20.
17 (10) Veronika Zemanova. Busty Czech rebounds.
18 (-) Flaming June. Leighton's painting jumps in amongst the centrefolds.
19 (-) Mario Tauzin. Racy French artist makes first appearance in top 20.
20 (-) Marilu Tolo. Italian actress appears for first time.


The top ten artistic searches were:

1 (1) Marie Louise O'Murphy. Second month at number one.
2 (2) Flaming June. Holds on to second.
3 (3) Mario Tauzin. Top three remain the same.
4 (-) La Verite. Lefebvre's symbolist nude.
5 (-) Aphrodite Kyrene. North African statue recently reurned to Libya.
6 (10) Lady Godiva. Back up for horse lady.
7 (4) September Morn. Chabas' controversial painting.
8 (8) David Hamilton. A good showing considering we only have one picture by him up.
9 (-) David Wright. Forties and Fiftes pin up artist.
10(-) Eve Tempted by Hiram Powers. American classical sculptor.

Redheaded Venus of the Week 6: Girl with Towel by Al Moore

Esquire's 1951 calendar also gives us this lovely redhead. Quite saucy for 1951!

Hawaiian Venus by Al Moore

It was unseasonally cold this morning in Surrey's capital of bling. We actually had a frost and only two degrees! So, given that, it's probably time to have another South Seas lovely to warm us up!

This is one of my favourite Polynesian pin-ups, from Al Moore in 1949, very much riding the wave of the post-Pacific War love of island girls.

Al Moore, who died in 1991, was a very successful commercial artist who got really well known when he replaced Alberto Vargas as Esquire's pin up artist in 1946. Succesful pin-up and calendar work followed although he continued to do high profile work for clients like Hertz and Coca Cola.

Moore's girls were rather more realistically proportioned than some of his rivals and, as a result, have a nice girl next door quality.

For the 1951 Esquire calendar he returned to the Tiki theme with another couple of South Seas lovelies.

The fact there were two out of twelve images with a South Pacific theme shows how popular the Tiki fashion had become since the war.

Venus with a snake 2: Sensuality by Franz von Stuck

Die Sinnlichkeit (Sensuality) (1891)

Here is a far from subtle lady with a snake painting by Franz von Stuck (1863-1928) the wealthy, symbolist "painter prince" of Munich. This picture, Sensuality was painted in 1891. A really malevolent-looking snake stares coldy out at the viewer whilst the girl, the thick body of the reptile pressed against her groin and wrapping itself around one leg, has a sort of cold insouciance as if to say "I am sinful and I don't care".

Sin (1893)

He painted a similar painting, Sin, which was exhibited at the exhibition of the Munich Secession in 1893. It was subsequently bought by the Neue Pinakothek musuem where it proved to be such a popular attraction that rows of seats had to be placed in front of the painting for the crowds of viewers who flocked to the gallery when it was put on display.

Sin (1900)

Such was the demand for these paintings that Stuck painted at least eighteen versions of his woman with a snake pictures.

Sin (1899)

Stuck was not only a painter but an architect, engraver and scuptor as well. After studying in Munich during the 1870s and 1880s he started his career as a magazine illustrator. He began teaching at the Munich Academy in 1895 where his pupils included Klee and Kandinsky.

Franz von Stuck

Although Stuck painted some famous paintings, such as his Salome, he is not as well-known as he should be today. Partly because his symbolist paintings fell out of fashion in the first half of the Twentieth Century but also because he had the misfortune to be Adolph Hitler's favourite artist.

The original Villa Stuck before the addition of the studio

Villa Stuck today with the studio (left) added later

He designed and built a house for himself and later added a vast studio to it for sculpting although he never actually did any sculpting in it, giving up the medium during the Great War. This house, the Villa Stuck, is now a museum in Munich. Stuck designed every aspect of the house: exterior, interior, furniture, carpets, wall hangings and fixtures and fittings.

Interior of the Villa Stuck

His woman with snake paintings represent Eve after the fall where she has embraced sin and, indeed is becoming one with it. They had the advantage of giving their nineteenth century audience a warning about the seductive dangers of sin whilst also giving them a sensual, even lascivious, nude into the bargain.

A later version of Sensuality

Sensuality etching (1898)

Stuck is buried next to his American born wife Mary in the influential woodland cemetery the Munich Waldfriedhof which is also, ironically, the resting place for Hitler's filmmaker Leni Reifenstahl.

Stuck's grave in the Waldfriedhof

Kissing Venuses No 1

If there is anything more exciting than one Venus it is two Venuses interacting with each other. It was in 1981 that Agent Triple P was presented with his first two young ladies together. C, his girlfriend at the time, asked him what he thought about the prospect of having two girls at the same time. Triple P, being very aware of current views regarding political correctness, answered that it might be acceptable if he had strong feelings for both and if the young ladies in question were completely happy about the situation. What he didn't say, of course, was that this would be every man's dream! Nevertheless, within a week, he was presented with C and her friend (whose name escapes us but whose arse does not) encouraging Triple P into the shower of the ladies college at Oxford where they were both students. A very exciting hour or so followed where Triple P was more inspired by the sight of what the two young ladies did to each other rather than what they subsequently did to him (which was, indeed, most diverting). Since then, given that many of Triple P's young ladies have demonstrated strong Sapphic tendencies, we have almost got used to the visual delights of two (or three or, on one memorable occasion in Vancouver, five) ladies entertaining each other. But not quite. So we will see more of them here in the future.

Redheaded Venus of the Week 5: Mind if I don't play hard to get by Alberto Vargas

Somewhat surprisingly we haven't had an Alberto Vargas picture on Venus Observations yet. Joaquin Alberto Vargas y Chávez (1896-1982) deserves a proper entry later but here, as a taster, is one of the paintings that he did for Playboy in the 1960s. This one appeared in the May 1963 edition. His paintings were invariably embellised with a fictional quote from the young lady in the picture. This one read "I'm a little tired tonight do you mind if I don't play hard to get?" Fortunately the picture is of a higher standard...

A decade later he re-worked the picture but the girl remains a red head.

Venus in trainers: Helena Christensen

An advertising man for Reebok has an inspired idea

Of all the nineties supermodels Helena was our favourite; curvier than most and in a world where most fashion models look the same, possessing a distinctive but, nonetheless beautiful face.

Possibly our favourite colour Helena photograph

She has just appeared in this striking new advertisement for Reebok trainers wearing, well, nothing except Reebok trainers. Now 41, and the mother of a ten year old, she doesn't do much modelling these days but concentrates on her New York antique shop and her photographic and fashion design careers. Nice to see her back in front of the lens, though!

We have many, many splendid photographs of Helena in our archive and present a small sample here. She was slways happy to strip off for the camera and as she said recently in Elle "I have no problems with showing my body. I’m Danish. Everyone’s naked on the beaches. We don’t really give a shit."

Excellent!