~ 1869 - 1935
Arthur Chaplin was a French painter and the son of the renowned Charles Joshua Chaplin, forged a markedly different artistic path from his father’s lavish, rococo‑styled nudes and dreamy portraits of women. While publicly celebrated for his modest botanical studies, Chaplin’s private oeuvre reveals a much more erotic, homoerotic dimension. Largely concealed during his lifetime because of the prevailing taboos around homosexuality in fin‑de‑siècle Paris.
At 19, Chaplin produced a personal manuscript (1888) containing over 110 water‑color illustrations of male nudes in intimate, mythologically inspired poses. He both authored and illuminated the work, employing delicate line work and vivid washes to explore his early fascination with eroticism. Though a pivotal moment in his career, the manuscript remained unpublished and unseen in public exhibitions.
His most documented erotic piece, the Missel d’Amour (1908‑1909), is a hand‑written, illuminated love missal dedicated to his youthful muse, Illan Alvarez de Toledo, Marquis de Casa Fuerte. Chaplin, then 39, fell passionately for Illan during portrait sessions, describing him in his memoirs as “a man from another century”: tall, slender, white‑haired, and austere. The missal, filled with tender verses and intimate imagery, testifies to Chaplin’s singular devotion to his male muse.
These erotic works survive only in auction houses and private collections, rarely digitized due to their intimate nature. They stand in stark contrast to Chaplin’s public still‑lifes and botanical paintings, exposing a hidden layer of desire that likely drew inspiration from Paris’s decadent artistic circles.
1 album/9 artworks
Latest Update: November 3, 2025 -> Created a new page for this artist (9 artworks)
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Karen Smits