~ Date of birth unknown
In the fog‑filled studios of 1920s Paris, Gaston Smit worked with a pen that cut as sharply as a whip. From the late 1910s to the mid‑1930s, this elusive French illustrator (also publishing under the names Georges Topfer and James Barclay) produced more than a thousand drawings of sadomasochistic erotica. His work straddles the line between cruelty and fascination.
Very little is known about Smit beyond his signature. There are no birth records, no public scandals, and no self‑portraits. Scholars think he belonged to a small circle of freelance artists who supplied underground publishers such as Éditions Jean Fort, Librairie Artistique, and L’Édition Parisienne. His output consists mainly of black‑and‑white etchings and occasional water‑tinted vignettes that depict adult flagellation: women in ecstatic arches, men in humbled rage. Though the subject matter repeats itself, each image carries a psychological intensity that reflects the period’s taboo fascination with pain as a form of release.
Smit’s style and his “G.T.S.” monogram links 19th‑century engraving techniques with a more daring fetish aesthetic. His influence can be traced from contemporary pulp novels to post‑war kink art. Whether he was a solitary provocateur or a collective pseudonym used by artists like Louis Malteste remains uncertain, and that ambiguity only adds to his intrigue.
61 albums/566 artworks (please notice that the albums are divided over multiple pages to ensure fast browsing, page numbers are at the bottom of the page)
Latest Update: January 1, 2026 ->Added the Fredi Trilogy - page 3 (24 artworks)
Illustrated books presented in gallery, be sure to check the links for more art:
Page 1
- Grace Rod (1908)
- Villa des Bouleux (1909)
- Satyres et Flagellants (1909)
- Ménages modernes (1912)
- L'Avatar de Lucette (1913)
- Souvenirs de Barbara (1913)
- Villa des Angoisses (1914)
- A strange passion (1914)
- Petite Dactylo (1914)
- Flora en Pension (1914 or 1919)
- Récits Piquants (1914)
- Flagellees (1920)
- Les Mystères du Harem (1920)
- Précoces expériences (1920)
- Reve 'dun Flagellant (1921)
- Maison Supplices (1921)
- Peggy Briggs (1921)
- Plaisir Troublants (1921)
- Eve Dominatrice (1921)
- Névrose (1921)
Page 2
- Maître et Esclave (1922)
- Au bon vieux temps (1922)
- Fouet au Couvent (1922)
- Visites Fantastique (1922)
- Pere Adoptif (1922)
- Aventure de Miss Alice (1922)
- Esclaves Modernes (1922)
- Parisiennes Flagellées (1922)
- Les Enfers lubriques (1922)
- Féminisé (1922)
- Les vacances de Suzy (1923)
- Le Precepteur (1923)
- Mésaventures de Ginette (1923)
- Amour et Perversité (1923)
- Miss Madge (1923)
- Betty Passionée (1923)
- Les droits du Seigneur (1923)
- Education Anglaise (1924)
- L'Ille du bois vert (1924)
- Memoires d'une Fouettée (1924)
- En Russie Rouge (1925)
- Untitled (1925)
Page 3
- Volupté du fouet (1928)
- Scenes de flagellation (1928)
- Pension Whip (1929)
- Maratre (1929)
- Maison Whip (1929)
- Nos Belles Flagellantes (1929)
- The Fredi Trilogy (1929/1930)
- Le Fouet Conjugal (1930)
- Troublante Odyssee (1930)
- Nouveux Contes de Fouet (1930)
- Annie Domptée (1930)
- Petite Dactylo (1930) - cover by Louis Malteste
- Frédi en Menage (1930)
- Femmes et Corsaire (1931)
- Corrections Fémines (1931)
- Ceux et Celles (1931)
- Sous le Jonc (1931)
- L'Agonie sous le Fouet (1932)
- Miss Crevache (1932)
- Miriam, sa douloureuse aventure (1932)
- Gisele et Pierrette (1932)
- Les Captives de l'Île-sans-nom (1932)
- Le Vaisseau des larmes (1933)
- Petit Dactylo (1933)
- La Flagellation dans 'Histoire (1958)
- Unknown
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Karen Smits
It’s always interesting to see how kinky people already were on the beginning of the last century.
Yes it surely it. And it’s amazing how much there is to find!