Hans-Jürgen Döpp

The climax to the act of love casts an indefinable expression on the face--an expression of urgent intensity. A women, a man, in that moment experiences an ecstasy that for an instant is visible in the eyes and on the lips. A wave of pleasure runs through the body, marking the transition between desire and orgasm. For this fleeting second, when just how violent the sense can be is laid bare, the person immediately before or the person immediately after. With the help of prints and etchings from former centuries, author Hans-Jurgen Dopp looks for an explanation of this very personal mystery that leads to fulfillment.

This collection offers a wide range of works from the Antiquity to the twentieth century. This title will deal specifically with erotic pieces. Here are the most sensual and provocative masterworks which captured the feeling of an era and those that signalled the beginning of a new one. Most of these works were not immediately recognized for their genius, and others that were at first met with great resistance. All have stood the test of time and in their own ways contribute to the dialectic on what makes a painting, sculpture or object erotic, how notions of eroticism have changed, to what degree erotic art reflects reality, and to what degree it alters it. Taken together these works illuminate the changing preoccupations and insights of our ancestors and this work enables the reader to rediscover the world heritage of erotic art.

Music is not only a pleasure for the ear, it is the echo of the heartbeat, breath and desire. Professor Dpp revisits music as the catalyst for dance, love and sex. From the music sheet to dance and through instruments, music is the expression of our profound desires and most violent passions. The text revisits the history of music and art from the dances of the first men to pop and electronic music and through belly dance.