While Marcel Herrfeldt is almost exclusively seen as a painter of large colourful canvases of conventionally beautiful women, what is less well-known is that throughout his artistic career he also maintained portfolios of detailed pencil sketches of sexual encounters, most of which are much more explicit than the paintings. From standard couplings to gay and lesbian sex, group encounters, and even large-scale orgies, he used his talent in life drawing to imagine an enormous range of intimate explorations – how much was based on personal experience and working with live models we shall never know.

Apart from a few which were shared with friends and colleagues, most of his erotic drawings came to light after his death, and the selection shown here come from several collections sold at auction during the 1970s.