The Eye's Desire

The WestLicht Photography Museum presents never-before-seen erotic photographs created by Austrian landscape painter Alfons Walde (1891–1958). For decades, the selection of around 120 images was stored away, unnoticed, as part of the late artist's estate.

Walde's photography focused on the female form, with many of his compositions touching on the pornographic. After a long history of black and white photography, the invention of Agfa colour film was a sensation in every way. It enabled Walde to capture a realistic record of reality, which he used to inspire his work as a painter.

Curators Rebekka Reuter and Peter Weiermair collated their selection from Walde's extensive archive, consisting of around 250 rolls of black and white film, 2,000 colour slides as well as contact sheets and silver gelatin prints. In the exhibition, new and vintage prints of these extraordinary colour photographs are juxtaposed with the artist's drawings and paintings – vividly illustrating the importance of photography for Walde's artistic oeuvre.

The exhibition is accompanied by the book SchauLust. The Erotic Photography of Alfons Walde, created by Peter Coeln and published by Haymon Publishers.

For further information visit: WestLicht