Books · Peter Webb

The Erotic Arts (London, 1975, 1978, 1980, 1982; New York, 1976); (revised edition, London and New York, 1983).

This was the first serious historical investigation into the importance of eroticism as inspiration for artists, writers, playwrights and film makers throughout the world and from earliest times.

The Erotic Arts, Collectors’ Edition, (London and New York 1975).

The Collectors’ Edition of The Erotic Arts was published in 1975 in London and New York with original prints by David Hockney and Allen Jones.

Hans Bellmer (with Robert Short) (London, 1985); revised edition, Death, Desire and the Doll, the Life and Art of Hans Bellmer, (London and New York, 2006); Japanese edition, (Tokyo, 2021)

This was the first biography of the artist Hans Bellmer who escaped from Nazi Germany to join the Surrealists in Paris in 1938.

Portrait of David Hockney AND David Hockney

Portrait of David Hockney (London, New York and Toronto, 1988); (revised edition, 1990); French edition, David Hockney (Paris, 1991).

This was the first biography of the artist David Hockney, now generally considered England’s foremost living painter and also distinguished as theatre designer, print maker and photographer.

Sphinx, the Life and Art of Leonor Fini and Leonor Fini, Metamorphoses d’un Art.

Sphinx, the Life and Art of Leonor Fini (New York and London, 2009); French edition, Leonor Fini, Metamorphoses d’un Art (Paris, 2007).

This was the first biography of the Surrealist artist Leonor Fini, lover of Max Ernst and friend of Salvador Dali, Rene Magritte, Jean Cocteau, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Leonora Carrington.

Erotic Art (Oxford, 2016)

This comprehensive study of Erotic Art was originally written for the widely-used reference work The Macmillan Dictionary of Art first published in 1996.

Leonor Fini Catalogue Raisonne of the Oil Paintings, two volumes (Zurich, Scheidegger & Spiess, 2021) (includes Leonor Fini’s Life by Peter Webb)

This is the authoratative reference work on Surrealist artist Leonor Fini, including the first-ever complete catalogue raisonne of her oil paintings, and includes a revised and expanded Life of Leonor Fini by Peter Webb.