#972 - Les Chateaux de Carlo

Les Châteaux de Carlo
derived from multiple sources
original anthology
a collection of illustrations

Carlo may be the pseudonym of an artist or an illustrative collective of talented individuals guided by a single vision (Charleno?). Whether the work was collaborative or solitary, the body is immense, diverse, audacious and original.

Possibly as many as 50 short novels provided the narrative marrow of Carlo's vivid illustrations. Associated with at least two French publishers, Carlo describes attractive, well-dressed characters, wiling away leisurely days and evenings, having fun each other. Games and role-play occupy the handsome residents of Carlo's chateaux. In his 1939 gem, La Règle du jeu (Rules of the Game),Jean Renoir exposed the opulent milieu of France's most comfortable citizens who indulged in couture, jewelry, palatial residences, and servants in secluded rural settings. Carlo's version replaces bird hunting and horse riding with indoor sports involving fetish attire and, sometimes, equestrian gear.

A light-hearted tone pervades the images. The line art drawings were usually printed with the prose pages they illustrate. Pictures with colors and grays were usually sold separately as supplements to the books.

Carlo does lovely renditions of corsets, lacy lingerie and stockings. Most female characters wear high-heeled boots or shoes, but these are not the most significant part of his legacy. One of the best sequences in the anthology has a transvestite theme, but most depict some kind of discipline scenario with dominant divas in boots. The images describe scenes superbly.

John Willie, Jim, Gene Bilbrew, Eric Stanton and Bill Ward were influenced by and took inspiration from Carlo's prodigious pioneer work. Some of the scenes drawn by these later masters re-cast Carlo's tableaux, character for character, pose for pose. An expert costumer, Carlo created sensual scenes draped with glamor, invention and cheer. Carlo's fantasy illustration serves as the archeology of modern fetish erotica.

The main part of the ebook consists of scans of original 1930s pages, done in the office of a collector in Hamburg, Germany. The pictures are presented in 21 groups, each relating to the volume illustrated. The title page and/or cover of the book precedes each of the sets. A few of these sets are supplemented by pictures from secondary sources, which also provided content for the images in the appendix.

Each of the more than 340 pictures has been placed on a separate ebook page. Although the pages have not been optimized, there's no better way to see the art of Carlo, or a larger collection of his work, than Les Châteaux.

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Pictures in Les Châteaux de Carlo
were derived from these novels:

Bagne de Femmes by Alan Mac Clyde
Le Chateau des Cuisant Souvenirs by Desire van Rowel
Le Cuir Triomphant by Alan Mac Clyde
Dolly, Esclave by Alan Mac Clyde
Dolores Amazone by Alan Mac Clyde
Dressage by Alan Mac Clyde
L'Inquisiteur Moderne by Juana Lapaz
La Madone du Cuir Verni by Alan Mac Clyde
La Reine Cravache by Edith Kindler (T-V theme)
Servitude by Alan Mac Clyde
Severities Perverses by Juana Lapaz
Les Tyrans Passionels by Rene-Michel Desergy

APPENDIX
Brulants Plaisirs by Desire van Rowel
Les Deux Camille by Allan Kardy
Caprices Sexuels by L. M. Dangtal
Cinglantes Epreuves by Desire van Rowel
Despotisme Feminin by Alan Mac Clyde
La Guinguette aux Orties by Rene-Michel Desergy
Le Dominateur by Aime Van Rod
A Toute Volee by Rene-Michel Desergy

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One ebook, delivered by download from your 30th Street Graphics account.