The Erotic Alphabet of 1880 – Joseph Apoux’s Playful Masterpiece of Belle Époque France
- Jul 31, 2024
- 5 min read
Updated: Aug 30, 2025
When you think of the alphabet, you probably picture a schoolroom, a child’s primer, or perhaps ornate calligraphy. But in 1880s France, one artist dared to turn the ABCs into something far more provocative. Joseph Apoux’s Erotic Alphabet, a series of finely executed lithographs, reimagined each letter as a sensual tableau, blending eroticism, humour, and artistry in ways that shocked and delighted his contemporaries.
Joseph Apoux – A Forgotten Master of Belle Époque Erotica
Joseph Apoux, born in 1846, was a French painter, engraver, and printmaker who carved out his own small but fascinating niche in the bustling Parisian art scene of the late 19th century. France at the time was a hotbed of creative innovation. Impressionism, Symbolism, and Art Nouveau were flourishing, and artists like Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Gustave Moreau were redefining what art could be.
Apoux didn’t reach their level of fame, but his work struck a chord in different circles—those interested in the boundaries between eroticism and art. He embraced playfulness and sensuality while still demonstrating technical skill. Collectors of erotic art today still prize his engravings for their wit and craftsmanship.
As one contemporary critic observed of French erotic printmakers of the period:
“They managed to turn the forbidden into an art form, disguising humour as scandal and scandal as humour.”
Apoux fit that description perfectly.
The Erotic Alphabet – Sensuality in Every Letter
Published around 1880, Apoux’s Alphabet Érotique (Erotic Alphabet) remains his most infamous and enduring work. Each letter of the alphabet was transformed into a scene featuring one or more figures, often nude or semi-nude, entwined in positions that cleverly mirrored the shape of the letter.
The design was ingenious:
A – A couple posed in such a way that their bodies formed the sharp triangular frame of the letter.
B – Rounded curves crafted from the entwined limbs of lovers.
S – A twisting, serpentine embrace embodying the sinuous letter form.
The effect was equal parts playful, sensual, and daring. What might have seemed a crude joke in another artist’s hands became, in Apoux’s lithographs, an elegant merging of art, form, and desire.
Erotic Art in the Belle Époque
Apoux’s alphabet cannot be understood outside of its cultural moment. The Belle Époque (1871–1914) was a period of optimism, indulgence, and experimentation in France. Advances in printing, publishing, and censorship laws meant erotic books and prints circulated widely, though often clandestinely.
Erotic literature by authors like Pierre Louÿs (The Songs of Bilitis, 1894) and the symbolist imagery of artists like Gustav Klimt (though Austrian, his influence reached Paris) created an environment where sexuality was celebrated as both natural and artistic.
Apoux’s Erotic Alphabet was not pornography in the bluntest sense, it was witty, satirical, and self-aware. By turning the ABCs, the very building blocks of language, into erotic encounters, he simultaneously mocked prudish morality and highlighted the absurdity of censorship.
As historian Walter Kendrick once noted about erotic art of this era:
“Its very playfulness undermined the rigid walls of morality. To laugh at it was already to admit that the boundaries of obscenity were porous.”
Technique and Artistic Merit
Beyond the subject matter, Apoux’s lithographs stand out for their technical execution. The shading, linework, and attention to anatomy reflect his background as a trained engraver. These weren’t hastily produced sketches but carefully composed works of art.
Each image demonstrates:
Detail in human form – musculature, gestures, and facial expressions are precise.
Composition – bodies arranged with architectural precision to evoke the letter’s shape.
Light and shadow – subtle tonal variations that lend a sense of depth and intimacy.
This combination of humour, craftsmanship, and sensuality is what has allowed Apoux’s Erotic Alphabet to endure as more than just a novelty.
Reception and Legacy
While mainstream audiences of the 1880s may have found such work scandalous, Apoux had a clear market among collectors of erotic art. Private libraries, boudoir collections, and clandestine printshops ensured that his alphabet circulated in Parisian circles.
Today, the series is considered a gem of 19th-century French erotic art. Rare copies appear in auction catalogues and exhibitions of Belle Époque prints. For collectors, owning a piece of Apoux’s work is to hold a fragment of the era’s daring humour and artistic rebellion.
In many ways, the Erotic Alphabet symbolises a recurring theme in art history: how artists use eroticism not only to provoke but also to innovate. By daring to combine something as innocent as the alphabet with sensual imagery, Apoux left behind a legacy that remains fascinating and thought-provoking.
Why Joseph Apoux Still Matters
In a world saturated with imagery, Joseph Apoux’s playful lithographs remind us that art is often at its best when it pushes boundaries. The Erotic Alphabet is more than titillation—it’s an exploration of the intersections between desire, creativity, and humour.
It asks us to reconsider: what is obscene, and what is art? Can something be both, and can laughter be as subversive as shock?
These are questions as relevant today as they were in 1880.
Here’s a list of sources you can use to support and reference your article on Joseph Apoux’s Erotic Alphabet (1880). I’ve focused on credible references about Apoux himself, Belle Époque erotic art, and the cultural context of 19th-century France.
Sources
Kinsey Institute Collections – Rare Books & Prints, including erotic alphabets and French 19th-century lithographs.
British Museum – Joseph Apoux Prints – Collection entries that reference works by Apoux, including engravings and lithographs.
Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) – Gallica Digital Library – Holds digitised 19th-century erotic works, including lithographs and publications from the Belle Époque.
BNL (Biblioteca Nazionale di Roma) Digital Collection – Erotic Alphabet – Archives of rare French lithographic alphabets.
Walter Kendrick, The Secret Museum: Pornography in Modern Culture (1996) – A scholarly history of erotic art and literature, with discussion of French print culture in the 19th century.
Peter Mendes, Clandestine Erotic Fiction in English 1800–1930 (1993) – Provides context for the production and circulation of erotic print culture in Europe.
Lynda Nead, The Female Nude: Art, Obscenity and Sexuality (1992) – Explores erotic representation in 19th-century art, useful for framing Apoux in broader traditions.
Gustave Courbet, Édouard Manet, and the Origins of Modernist Erotic Art – Exhibition catalogues and scholarly essays on French eroticism in the Belle Époque.
(Museum catalogues such as Musée d’Orsay often reference Apoux’s contemporaries).
Kendall T. Brown & Sharon Minichiello, Images of Desire: Japanese Erotica and the European Imagination, 1700–1930 – While focused partly on Japonisme, it gives good context for why erotic prints were so fashionable in Paris during Apoux’s lifetime.
WorldCat & JSTOR Entries on Joseph Apoux – Academic references to his Alphabet Érotique and engravings.
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