Cover

Bilitis by Otto Schoff

Otto Schoff (1884–1938) was born and raised in Bremen, Germany. He attended several different art schools and also studied in Paris. During World War I, Schoff was on active duty but was injured in a poison gas attack. He returned to Berlin in 1918, where in addition to his more mainstream art, he began to create erotic artwork.

Schoff had a variety of collectors, among whom was Hermann Göring. However, this did not save him from being designated a ‘degenerate artist’ by the Nazis. He died from a heart attack in 1938 while the Gestapo was searching his apartment.

Les chansons de Bilitis was purported to be ancient poetry found on the walls of a tomb in Cyprus, written by a woman named Bilitis who was a courtesan and contemporary of Sappho. However, it was a literary fraud perpetrated by the very prolific author of erotica, Pierre Louÿs in 1894.

Bilitis by Otto Schoff is from 1926. The suite contains seven illustrations plus the cover illustration.

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