Oh, that's just O'Keeffe's Red Canna

April 15, 2017 4:51 PM

It's time for me to re up my decor, and I'd like to put up some surreptitiously dirty art.

I want art that a. takes a minute for one to recognize is salacious and b. has a completely believable explanation as to why it isn't. Assume more upper middle class taste rather than dorm room. Any medium is ok with preference to hangable or framable e.g. paintings, tapestry, even macrame.

posted by fluttering hellfire to Media & Arts (7 answers total)

This throw pillow has been making the rounds on social media.
posted by Ruki at 5:07 PM on April 15, 2017 [7 favorites]

I suppose Fragonard's The Swing may not be subtle enough for "she's just swinging" count for a completely believable explanation, but I love that it takes a moment for the viewer to fully appreciate what is being depicted.
posted by juliplease at 6:14 PM on April 15, 2017 [3 favorites]

There's also the Massa Marittima mural (late 13th century), the meaning of which is debated. The penises that hang as its fruit look like leaves until you see really them. They were hidden once before.
posted by juliplease at 7:09 AM on April 16, 2017

My very conservative parents had this image on a plaque on the dining room wall when I was a child. I always thought that it depicted a naked woman, but learned as I grew older that my mother thought it was an illustration of human lungs.
posted by sueinnyc at 7:12 AM on April 16, 2017 [6 favorites]

We used to have a very large photograph of the interior of a cantaloupe on our wall. It was quite suggestive, but hey, it's just a cantaloupe, right? Imagine something long these lines, but artier and of higher quality.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 6:34 PM on April 16, 2017 [1 favorite]

Perhaps a print by Edward Weston? He took a picture of the world's sexiest bellpepper.
posted by joeyjoejoejr at 8:22 AM on April 17, 2017 [1 favorite]

I have friends who have a very subtle print of a bivalve of some sort with a pearl in the center. It is most definitely salacious if you look at it for a minute.
posted by limeonaire at 6:58 PM on May 16, 2017