Artists and Models

by Anaïs Nin

Both stories capture a moment of sexual awakening, and reveal the subtle or explicit means by which men and women are aroused. Lust, obsession, fantasy and desire emerge as part of the human condition, as pure or as complex as any other of its aspects. Previously published in The Delta of Venus (1978) and Little birds (1979) respectively.

- Artists and Models
- A Model

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Classics, Erotica, 20th Century

56 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Writer and diarist, born in Paris to a Catalan father and a Danish mother, Anaïs Nin spent many of her early years with Cuban relatives. Later a naturalized American citizen, she lived and worked in Paris, New York and Los Angeles. Author of avant-garde novels in the French surrealistic style and collections of erotica, she is best known for her life and times in The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Volumes I-VII (1966-1980).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ana%C3%...

Reviews

[Sabrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nin transformed the intimate, and itself transformative, relationship between artists and models from the metaphysical explorations through artistic vision into one that may be more or less intimate than the former, the exploration of sexuality. One can’t help but wonder about the unbound eros of artistic creation confined in the relationship and power dynamics of the artist and the muse, but Anaïs certainly leaves nothing left to imagine with her, some may call it crude, depictions of sex. Nonetheless, doesn’t the inherent power difference between the artist and the model create a nest for an in part objectifying and exploitative erotic entanglement?

“I have known other sexual angels. It is wonderful to see the change in them. These clear eyes that you can see through, these bodies that take such beautiful harmonious poses, these delicate hands… how they change when desire takes hold of them. The sexual angels! They are wonderful because it is such a surprise, such a change. You, for instance, with your appearance of never having been touched, I can see you biting and scratching… I am sure your very voice changes - I have seen such changes. There are women’s voices that sound poetic, unearthly echoes. Then they change. The eyes change. I believe that all these legends about people changing into animals at night - like the stories of the werewolf, for instance - were invented by men who saw women transform at night from the idealized, worshipful creatures into animals and thought that they were possessed.”

[Jessie Drew · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a fan of Anaïs Nin's body of work, it is difficult to be objective. Her life is fascinating! This book was much more erotically charged than I expected- silly, of course. Just look at the cover! That's why I gave it 3 stars. It would have been more interesting to me to hear some non erotic stories in the mix. I love her books because of their poetic, conversational style- a difficult combo to execute.
This book had elements of both. I would recommend it.

[Noah · Rating 3 out of 5]

To say that I accidentally read a smut book would be unfair. I did not know the sensuality of the book, however it was not surface level. Artists and models does not just write about sex for the sake of it. The book is part of the 1940s feminist movements which saw to women exploring sexual acts independently and freely. The men are creepy as fuck in this book. The description is not decadent, but indulgent without shame or social constraints. 3.5, twas a short story.

[Spencer Fancutt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some Christmas reading. Sexual anecdotes about artists and models. I have to say I don't really 'get' erotica like this. Besides titillation, it doesn't seem to say much of any value. Not sure what I should appreciate. If this was part of a cultural sexual awakening or liberation, great. Literature? Perhaps this little Pocket Penguin taster just put all the dirty bits together and I'm not getting the whole picture.

[Gary Daly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love Anais Nin and her impeccable sense of lust and desire. Her work is beautiful and at times confronting but always erotic and pleasantly exhausting.
From the Pocket Penguin 15 (2005, 56 pages).

[Realini Ionescu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Artists and Models by Anais Nin, author of La Cloche de Verre – my note of this is at https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... together with more reviews

8 out of 10

The stories from The Delta of Venus are incredible, and the novel aka collection of short stories is included on the list of 1,000 novels Everyone Must Read, in some ways, I wish I could read this when I was an adolescent, trying to figure out what sex is, what women want, how to get close to them, and the like

Some decades back we were immersed in The Tales of Boccaccio, The Decameron https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... although we had no idea that they are among The 100 Greatest Books of All Time, we were just thrilled by the sexuality within
Artists and Models has this model coming into the sculptor’s atelier and then Millar tells her about Montparnasse, and the sensual happenings from over there – there was this wife of an artist, who was a nymphomaniac – I have met about a couple, maybe a few more, one was a princess, really, even if a diminished one

Calimachi was one of the ruler princes, and there were scores, maybe hundreds of them, paying the sultans to get the top spot in one of the Romanian provinces, where they would extract taxes, get rich, Insha’Allah, and then they could recoup their initial investment, the backsheesh used to get to a commanding role
And this Alexandra Calimachi is the one descending from one of those fortunate and tragic figures, many would be killed, some have lost their savings, in this particular case, I wonder if she claimed some chateau, properties, and in the meantime, she is somewhere near here, in a lavish palazzo, and I should stop this and give her a call

The Model from The Delta of Venus hears this saga of the nymphomaniac and it is suitable for the purpose, in the introduction, we read how one collector had ordered erotica, then they were written at order, and he censored, asking for no frills, he just wanted the sex, forget the sea and the rest, in the tale Mallorca for instance
I would say that these lines are both intriguing, arousing, pleasurable, but they present a challenge, they have to be taken in installments, at least this is what I do, tomorrow is the day for paid sex (there is no other way for yours truly, alas) ergo this evening, some reading from the Anais Nin opus is recommended
Otherwise, without intercourse in the next day’s menu, this could be a version of BDSM, the Marquis de Sade https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... I mean you somehow repeat the experience of the nymphomaniac wife in the book, who has this hunger for sex, in the extreme

Her husband has this constant fear of Cubans and Negroes (this is the word from the work) and he resorts to asking his friends to have his spouse, to prevent her from meeting strangers, losing her, or having her come to harm, I am not clear as to which, nevertheless, she does encounter this Cuban, Antonio, handsome
He has long hair, and a habit of taking women for three days of sexual feast – I cannot help but stop and think that this sounds artificial, which it is, as mentioned, the writer produced these lines for this fellow who had a lust for the words, however limited to the vulgar and sexual ones – and the women would be so satisfied

Only with the particular woman, it is a different development, she wears a chastity belt, to suggest she is the slave of her sexual hunger and we have inserted here the plight of the crusader, who went to fight for the cross (what else, he was a knight of the cause) and left spouse with chastity belt and key in the care of his best friend
Unfortunately, he rides only a few miles towards Jerusalem and he is stopped by the agitated, furious friend, who says ‘you gave me the wrong key’ – now the nymphomaniac is taken to a room by Antonio, who is a painter of frescoes, no less, and he plays with her, as if he is out of the Marquis de Sade somehow

There is another book of games, Games People Play https://realini.blogspot.com/2013/09/... by Eric Berne, this one is a classic of psychology, and what happens within is on another, psychological level, the blame game, the If It Weren’t For You are also teasing, but the satisfactions are different
The Cuban is playing with the helpless woman, tears the dress around the chastity belt, which he keeps on for so damn long, he bites every morsel, the ass, which he kisses, there are no limits in these stories, they may beat Sandra Brown, they definitely would have been a gold mine in the days of Ceausescu, when we had so little

Indeed, we were reduced to avidly read a page from Ion aka John https://realini.blogspot.com/2023/10/... compulsory reading if you can believe it, and you should, because there is no hot scene there, except suggestions, nudity, which were the climax
For such poor, ignorant teenagers, when there is a rape scene, in another acclaimed local oeuvre, Rascoala aka The Uprising, that was seen as pornography, yes, it was so damn wrong, even if the man is a peasant and he takes revenge on a rich woman, the commies had a sick sense of morality, what am I saying, they had no such thing https://realini.blogspot.com/2016/11/...


Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/u... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...

Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’

“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”

[Cindy van Wyk · Rating 2 out of 5]

Consisting of two stories, Anais Nin's 'Artists and Models' is erotic and sensual, but doesn't have much in the way of plot or even point.

The title story details a young model's first sexual experiences at the hands of a married producer and then later a married sculptor.

"He believed in making such a thorough feast of a woman that neither one wanted to see the other again... He gave one the feeling that the whole world was now shut out and only this sensual feast existed, that there would be no tomorrows, no meetings with anyone else - that there was only this room, this afternoon, this bed."

In 'A Model', a young girl goes against her mother's wishes and becomes a model in New York. She, of course, is a virgin 😴 who dreams of "becoming a woman" by letting a man "take her".

"While I fought him off, it was only out of habit, but actually it had given me pleasure... From the very first I had divined that what I really had to defend myself against was my own susceptibility to caresses."

Later in the story, a recluse artist tells her about a "savage woman" who lives in the forest who his friend shared a wild, passionate night with. Then he adds: "that night made white women seem weak to him".

So clearly the "savage" is a black woman. It's all just so gross and boring.

There's very little sense of consent, which seems to be par for the course for when the stories were written, but the men are predatory and rapey, which made me VERY uncomfortable.

Known as one of the first women to really embrace erotica (at least publicly), there's much to be said for Nin's contribution to the genre, but reading the stories in 2021, it falls flat. There's not enough detail for it to be straight-up smut, but there's also not enough plot for it to be an enjoyable erotic story.

Overall, it's just... Meh 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Christian · Rating 4 out of 5]

No había leído a Anais, aunque tengo sus diarios incestuosos y alguna otra cosa más. Este librito, como otros de la colección, es una buena introducción (bueno, cualquier cosa que digo ya suena a doble sentido). Son dos textos sobre lo mismo: modelos femeninas posando para escultores, pintores e ilustradores, de variados estilos, pero todos queriendo encarmarse con las modelos. La sucesión de escenas, al acumularse, produce un efecto porno soft en loop. Las escenas de sexo suenan todas conocidas, como si se armara un catálogo, y nada de lo que pasa acá puede escandalizar a cualquiera. Por suerte la prosa de Anais, con bajo nivel de azúcar y sentimentalismo, corre muy bien. Hay desvirgues, orgasmos, tocaditas, sesiones largas y quickies, para todos los gustos. Muy bien por ella. Igual con 60 páginas ya como que alcanza y sobra.

[Malzee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Given the timing of this read, I honor Toni Morrison by beginning with her words: “Sex is difficult to write about because it’s just not sexy enough. The only way to write about it is not to write much. Let the reader bring his own sexuality into the text.” But Anaïs Nin made an oeuvre of writing about sex. Perhaps her special recipe involved starting with exaggerated innocence and letting the pendulum swing. Perhaps Madame Morrison’s critique was limited to authors who try to incorporate sex into a larger non-sexual story rather than just liberating sex to be the story itself. Then again, maybe she’s right in that these stories aren’t arousing in themselves; but sexy or not, they more than sufficiently, and enjoyably, narrate an exploration of sexuality. #book15 #pocketpenguins #penguin70s

[Hanna (lapetiteboleyn) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first experience reading Anaïs Nin, and I have to say, I'm really interested in reading more. Yes, for the record, it is so explicit I think I was blushing like a fiend as I was reading. There's a lot of sex. Casually skimming some reviews that mentioned there being a lot of sex did not prepare me for the actual amount of sex in the 56 pages of this book. But it was also joyful, and honestly a lot of fun to read.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful little book. Quite graphic but written in such an elegant and delicate way that it is far from the clichéd erotica. Anaïs Nin writes of sex as though she is describing the fields or the sky. She writes poetically and unassumingly. Her words are not filled with lust but with description and honesty. It is refreshing to read this sort of book written with the same innocence and skill that Stevenson writes of the Scottish Highlands.

[Zoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

was in the feminist section of the amnesty bookshop and I really though it was critical theory, I got it cuz it was small, turns out it is not feminist critical theory. also the girl in the bookshop gave me her number!

[Jess Barbour · Rating 1 out of 5]

The person who sold me this book told me it was a great piece of feminist literature. Definitely was not that…

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

CN: sexual harassment, sexual content, racism

Very poetic writing, but the content is very much of its time.

[evelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

bought this from a lovely old lady at the oxfam on the high street

[verity · Rating 3 out of 5]

nin's so cool

[Aodhán Shadlow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well I must say that was enjoyable, and that maybe I now see why people enjoy certain genres more than I thought possible.

[Coenraad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Except for very prudish readers, there's nothing wrong with Anaïs Nin's writing. She portrays interesting characters in situations where sexuality is depicted in an unashamedly frank and forthright manner. So far, so good. The low(ish) star grading is the result of Penguin's packaging. Nin is another author who was also inluded in the Penguin 60s. That is not problematic per se, but in the Pocket Penguin 70 there are only two stories, one of which also apeared in the Penguin 60 booklet (with about six other stories). What does this imply about Nin's oeuvre: that the best had already been chosen? That there is nothing else to explore? Or did the selectors bank on the ten years between the two publications, hoping readers won't remember? This booklet does not fulfil my expectation of introducing me to new discoveries from the Penguin publications list.

Anaïs Nin se skryfwerk bly uitdagend weens haar uitbeelding van seksuele situasies onder om doekies om te draai. Dit sal nogal 'n uitdaging wees om dit in Afrikaans te vertaal! Dit is egter teleurstellend sat hierdie boekie slegs twee tekste bevat, en dat een van die twee tien jaar tevore in die Penguin 60s-reeks opgeneem is (saam met omtrent ses ander tekste). Hierdie Pocket Penguin 70-boekie faal dus in my verwagting om nuwe skryfwerk op die Penguin-publikasielys te leer ken.

[Sayonara]

Girl.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

feminist awakenings? a novel by Anais Nin who subverts the notions of the passive, submissive, sterile and frigid notions of women. she explores and exploits the very real hold that women and the sexual feminine body wield over men.

i picked up Anais Nin because I came across a quote from her, "We don't see things as they are; we see them as we are." which really rang in me. How short, how simple and true.

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm going with three stars on this one. The writing seems almost gentle and fluid, easy to get lost in the words. I think I would like to read a novel by Anais Nin, this book was two short stories, but a novel to get to know the characters a little more with a longer storyline.

[Vi]

hey siri what do i do when i accidentally read straight porn

(i understand the purpose of this book in its 1940s feminist sexual liberation context but i did not expect or want to be reading what i was reading 💔)

[lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

hot.

[Steve Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

1940's erotica - quite graphic filth (not a bad thing).

[Mary Arkless]

Quite raunchy. Told in first person from the perspective of a woman telling of her experiences modelling for various artists.

[sanne_reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great writing style, it's easy to get lost in her words. Read some 1940's erotica: check. Haha.

[C.F. Kirkham-Sandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The sex scenes are surprisingly bad for a classic writer of erotic fiction.