Biography

Pierre Molinier was a French Surrealist painter and photographer best known for his erotic sadomasochistic imagery. Born on April 13, 1900 in Agen, France, Molinier began his artistic practice as a landscape painter, working in the Fauve and Impressionist styles. Following World War II, he began to explore the eroticism and fetishistic influences that would characterize his later work. In 1955, he developed a correspondence with the Surrealist André Breton, who initially encouraged Molinier’s work—however, the notoriously homophobic Breton later withdrew his support when he became aware of Molinier’s sexuality. In 1965, the artist began to make autoerotic self-portraits and photomontages in his Bordeaux apartment, which he referred to as his boudoir. These photographs feature Molinier and occasionally other models dressed in women’s lingerie and engaged in erotic and sadomasochistic acts. The figures in his works are often collaged into vertical or radially symmetrical configurations. In the 1970s, Molinier’s health began to decline, and he committed suicide on March 3, 1976 at his home in Bordeaux, France.