Grandma & Grandpa Never Stopped Being Into Threesomes

April 14, 2018 3:32 PM

Georges Delfau was a 20th C. French painter who painted older folk having sex. Lots of it. (XXX, NSFW)
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey (26 comments total)

Suddenly, carrot.
posted by lazaruslong at 4:43 PM on April 14, 2018 [2 favorites]

Mind the orange juice!
posted by Halloween Jack at 4:46 PM on April 14, 2018

This is simultaneously giggly-fun and cannot be un-seen.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:49 PM on April 14, 2018 [7 favorites]

You know, sometimes I fail to give a NSFW tag enough credence. I'm not sure what I expected here.

That poor dog.
posted by taterpie at 5:00 PM on April 14, 2018 [15 favorites]

I just find these really lovely. They're sweet and they seem very comfy and nice. Thanks for sharing.
posted by Made of Star Stuff at 5:08 PM on April 14, 2018 [29 favorites]

If it was simply one painting, it'd be difficult to see it as anything but a novelty, but after half a dozen they begin to project an emotional depth. There's something happening I can't quite process.
posted by davebush at 5:24 PM on April 14, 2018 [19 favorites]

I made it to the carrot without giggling. I think what gets me about this is the ... fondness? ... he has toward the subjects? It's playful but doesn't seem mocking.

True question, though: Why do people find this kind of thing repulsive? I understand not being attracted - maybe this isn't what you find attractive, or maybe you're not attracted to anyone. But I've never really gotten why people are repulsed by imperfect bodies, especially when there's no evolutionary reason to be afraid (e.g. no open sores).

Is it that you can't help but imagine yourself having sex with that person? Is it some kind of subconscious fear of contamination? Just what is going on when you "can't unsee" a naked body you don't want to fuck?

(And it's not just sexual images either. It's on beaches, in art materials/photos, in jokes about accidentally seeing grandma's boobs...)
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 5:29 PM on April 14, 2018 [34 favorites]

See also people's reaction to seeing people in locker rooms. I think it's tightly coupled to the possessive aspect of the sexual gaze, and magical thinking. If you look at all things naked as sexual, and all things sexual in a possessive and signifying way, then seeing high status sexuality (young, attractive) is a charm that enhances you; and seeing abject sexuality (old, ugly) is a curse that diminishes you. The fear of death and the fear of social rejection also play a part here.
posted by idiopath at 5:45 PM on April 14, 2018 [12 favorites]

That poor dog.

I was warned about the carrot but it's the one where the dog get involved that caught me off guard.
posted by atoxyl at 5:49 PM on April 14, 2018 [6 favorites]

Also interesting to see the ones near the end with a detached observer in the foreground -- sometimes it's ambiguous who they are, but at least one is a boy holding a teddy bear.
posted by gold-in-green at 6:11 PM on April 14, 2018 [1 favorite]

Yeah it starts out all joyful celebration and then it takes somewhat of a turn. Rich tapestry, etc.
posted by schadenfrau at 6:22 PM on April 14, 2018

Thank you! I found these wonderful. Of course, I'm 75 and that's how we look now. More imaginative use of props, though. Hmmm *Big Grin*

But what's with the dog comments? There are several featuring dogs, and the dogs are watching. Our cats watch everything, everywhere, when they're in the mood. Am I missing something? Is there concern that the dog is being left out?
posted by kestralwing at 6:50 PM on April 14, 2018 [5 favorites]

In one of the images, a small dog is being held up so it can lick the lady.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 7:11 PM on April 14, 2018

I enjoyed them, and I laughed at a few, but I can tell you flat out they will NOT be on my living room wall!
posted by BlueHorse at 8:54 PM on April 14, 2018

Reminds me of My Secret Life by Walter.

"...a parade of genitalia, pornographic writing of the most explicit and lascivious kind .. unusual as a surviving piece of hardcore Victorian pornographic writing".

posted by Thella at 10:40 PM on April 14, 2018

Sometimes, when partner and I get frisky, his maltese shitzu goes off and humps her sheep cushion. I'm still not certain how I feel about this. At least the cat turns his back.
posted by b33j at 10:46 PM on April 14, 2018 [1 favorite]

When I was little in the 70s and saw a Playboy at my uncle's I thought the photos looked repulsive and the body parts so raw and wrinkly and hairy. Maybe the repulsion is based on seeing bodies we will likely eventually inhabit and that is strange and scary.
posted by waving at 1:11 AM on April 15, 2018 [1 favorite]

I saw a few of these images twenty-odd years ago but had long-since forgotten the name of the painter. On the couple of occasions in the interim that mild curiosity about them had resurfaced, I was flummoxed at how I might search for them without just finding an excess of... other material. so thanks for the post pbzm!
posted by misteraitch at 2:24 AM on April 15, 2018 [1 favorite]

and the body parts so raw and wrinkly and hairy

At some point in the 1990's Playboy redacted the hairy, though they have kept the raw and wrinkly.

I've seen images of a couple of these paintings before, but never as a collection. It is definitely different seeing them together rather than in isolation.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:58 AM on April 15, 2018 [1 favorite]

"Is it that you can't help but imagine yourself having sex with that person?"

I would guess this is it. Or it reminds someone of watching their parents or grandparents bone.

I can't decide whether or not I want to clink on this link or not.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:18 AM on April 15, 2018

I think it's cool that it appears to be the same woman model in most of the paintings. Wonder who she was and her story.
posted by Mesaverdian at 12:28 PM on April 15, 2018 [3 favorites]

What I love about these paintings is that they are depicting private moments of pleasure. These aren't meant to depict stills from a porno shoot, there is no camera crew on hand. The participants are focussed on having dirrrty hot sex and taking physical pleasure in their lovers' (and their own) bodies, not are they putting on a good performance.

Society reinforces the notion that ageing (particularly for women) is about an end to sexuality, both desiring and desirability. Case in point, the Last Fuckable Day.

The matrons in this series did not get the LFD memo. And yeah, I too dig the idea that it's the same woman in many of the paintings.

I imagine her as a character in a story. What was she doing when not indulging in that powerful libido? What was her circle of friends like? Did she work in couture? Was she a restorer at a museum? I'm presuming Paris. But Marseille has got that Mediterranean weather going on.

Vive la France.
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 3:17 PM on April 15, 2018 [5 favorites]

Am I the only one who found these pretty erotic? These people are having really good sex!
posted by BaffledWaffle at 5:01 PM on April 15, 2018 [4 favorites]

I haven't gotten through all of them yet, but thus far, I find them delightful! There does seem to be a story arc, perhaps? I'm not sure. I love the art style itself, as well as the subject and her paramours. I like this quite a bit, and want to find some time to investigate more about the artist and his vision for this series.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 6:13 PM on April 15, 2018

Oh, damn. I had to look through carefully again to figure out what was meant by the “poor dog” comment. Oh my!
posted by sucre at 8:43 PM on April 15, 2018

Am I the only one who found these pretty erotic? These people are having really good sex!

I definitely did. Then I got to the carrot, and I laughed instead. Then I got to the dog, and....well....the funny and the erotic ended then.

tbh if i saw this set without those two paintings then i'd just think it was new and cool and yep pretty hot.
posted by lazaruslong at 11:54 PM on April 15, 2018 [1 favorite]