Sexy art for V-Day

Luscious back sides, liquid gold and alluring goddesses: Four must-see paintings for a sexy Valentine’s visit to NYC museums!

Looking for a little romantic inspiration this Valentine’s Day? Look no further than NYC’s great art museums. Here are four surprisingly sexy stops to schedule.

The Brooklyn Museum is showing off the massive photo-realistic paintings of Marilyn Minter, the provocateur who debuted 40 years ago but has really turned on her wild side in the last 10. Open mouths drip liquid gold and red lips puff silver beads into the air. Try this one on for size (it fills a wall).

Pop Rocks, Marilyn Minter, 2009, at the Brooklyn Museum through April 2.

Pierre-Auguste Cot, the little-known French artist, found a sly way in 1880 to show young love -- and perky nipples peeking out from a diaphanous gown. He created the illusion that the young couple are drawn from a myth. Back in the 19th century (and before), the only safe way for an artist to exhibit such titillating images was to pretend the subject came from great literature. Enjoy The Storm at the Met in Gallery 827 near the Impressionists.

The Storm, Pierre-Auguste Cot, 1880, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

A divine derriere is on view just a few galleries away in Titian’s Venus and Adonis. Knowing her lover is about to perish in a hunt, Venus tries to restrain the handsome hunter and prevent him from flying the coop. But Adonis will have none of it. (With insouciant indifference to the goddess’s charms and her warnings of danger, Adonis hunted a wild boar and was gored to death).  The great Tiziano was surely only too aware that viewers would stick with the image longer if he offered some skin. So we also get an alluring view of Venus’s luscious backside. And Adonis offers a nice chest view, too.

Venus and Adonis, Titian, c. 1540, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gallery 607

As for Venus’s front side, look no further than Peter Paul Rubens. He’s also enamored of the Venus and Adonis hunting myth -- in a painting that would have been perfect for the walls of a Baroque-era country hunting lodge, where weekend hunts occupied noblemen indoors and out. Wild hair and a highly precarious posture only add to Venus’s allure, as her voluptuous figure is right there for the taking in the Met’s second-floor galleries.

Venus and Adonis, Peter Paul Rubens, 1630s,
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gallery 628.

For a private tour of these paintings, or any other subject on your list, check out Heart of the Art! Or find us on Facebook.

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