Beauty and the Beast, Leda and the Swan—art history is populated with high-toned references to the inevitable convergence of the spiritual and the carnal, the angelic and the demonic. But Georges Hugnet, one of the lesser-known stars of the Surrealist movement, did one better in his satirical series titled La Vie Amoureuse des Spumifères or The Love Life of the Spumifers, which he created between 1948 and 1949.

A poet, critic, publisher, book-binder and rare book dealer, Hugnet (1906-1974) invented a species of whimsical erotic creatures he named Spumifers, and painted them onto black-and-white nudie postcards, the main form of soft porn available to the Belle Epoque gentleman. The series of 40 collages, of which 33 are on view at Ubu Gallery through February 11th, are accompanied by texts that poetically and humorously catalogue the mating habits of these fantastical creatures.

Hugnet concocted words like bowoodling, friskadoodling and alabamaraminating to describe the seductive strategies of his imaginary creatures. The meticulously painted monsters slyly slither around the bare flesh of the pictured "mademoiselle," nibbling and tickling, arousing her sexual desire. Hugnet's illustrations seduce the viewer, parodying the human pursuit of love and lovemaking through these adorable grotesques. Hugnet’s winking reference to illuminated manuscripts is evident in the gold frames with which he surrounds each photograph as well as the dimensional quality of his painted additions, which pay an unmistakable homage to the large initials found in Medieval manuscripts.

The Love Life of the Spumifers, plus selected works by Georges Hugnet, continues through February 11^th at Ubu Gallery. 416 East 59^th Street, NY, NY.

Above: Three from the series La Vie Amoureuse des Spumifères ["The Love Life of the Spumifers"] ca. 1948; courtesy Ubu Gallery, New York & Galerie Berinson, Berlin; copyright ADAGP and Myrtille Hugnet. Left to right: No. 16, La Ribulute Vertébrée [The Vertebrate Ribalete]; No. 2, Le Minoseur Hésitant [The Hesitant Minosis]; No 30, La Granivelle d'Austerlitz [The Austerlitz Spandle].

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