Tom Poulton
~ 1897 - 1963
Thomas Leycester Poulton was a British magazine and medical illustrator who provided artwork for a range of publications including the British Journal of Surgery and The Radio Times. After his death it was discovered that he had also secretly produced hundreds of sketches and finished drawings of men and women engaged in a wide range of uninhibited sexual activity.
Tom was educated at Monkton Combe School outside Bath in Somerset. In 1914 he won a scholarship to Slade School of Fine Art in Bloomsbury, Central London where he was taught by renowned artist and teacher Henry Tonks. Poulton was commissioned to produce artwork for many magazines and books including, for Nonesuch Press, new versions of A Plurality of Worlds by Fontenelle and Isaac Walton's The Compleat Angler. He worked almost entirely with a soft pencil but occasionally used pen and ink.
Whilst stationed in Khajuraho, India, Poulton came into contact with the Kama Sutra, which prompted a fascination with erotic art. During his lifetime he produced many erotic drawings, usually on commission from various patrons, notably playboy yachtsman Beecher Moore, who sold a large collection of Poulton's work in the early 1990s.
Throughout his life he kept all of his erotic work secret for fear that it would be seized and he would be arrested by the police. He did only a few bdsm related artwork but enough for me to decide to add him as artist to this site.
5 albums/27 artworks
Latest Update: July 4, 2026 -> Added more art (13 artworks)
