Not only was Eusebi Planas y Franquesa the best known Spanish illustrator of the second half of the nineteenth century, he was also the founding genius of erotic Spanish graphic art. And he was a Catalan, born and bred in Barcelona, which is why many consider his real name to be Eusebio, and why his output is often captioned in both Castilian and Catalan.

Eusebi Planas was destined by family tradition for the law, but his artistic vocation prevailed: he studied at the Lonja School of Fine Arts in Barcelona and apprenticed himself to an engraving workshop. At sixteen, in 1849, his father sent him to Paris, where he learned the techniques of lithography in the workshop of Eugène Lassalle. A cholera epidemic in Paris in 1854 took him back to Barcelona, where he developed the quality and materials of Catalan lithography to produce a wide range of work, including xylography and chromography. A prolific and hard-working designer, he involved himself in the whole process, from the initial drawing to publication.

During the 1850s and 60s Planas specialised in the illustration of serial novels, quickly gaining popularity for his fine lines and the romantic atmospheres with which he imbued his works. Among his illuminated books were Los Tres Mosqueteros (The Three Musketeers) and Los Miserables (Les Misérables), which increased their sales enormously thanks to his drawings. He soon formed a workshop of apprentice draughtsmen, and his contributions to lithographic and chromolithographic albums were highly valued.

He was also a graphic humourist, hiding his identity under the pseudonym Felipó in El Cañón Rayado and other magazines. In his cartoon drawing style he borrowed much from the great illustrators of the French satirical, humorous and salacious press. Some of his humorous work clearly bordered on the pornographic, showing all kinds of sexual activities, often depicted as wordplays on favourite sports and games.

Planas took an active part in Barcelona’s festive culture, leading a somewhat dissipated life while always keeping up appearances. And he was highly appreciated for his approach to the representation of the female figure – his Historia de Una Mujer (The Story of a Woman) and Historia de la Prostitución (The History of Prostitution) were very popular, while his lithographic album Academias de Mujer, with finely-crafted engravings of beautiful naked women, was the pinnacle of erotic illustration of his time.

We are very grateful to our Russian friend Yuri for suggesting the inclusion of this artist, and for supplying many of the images.