Max Švabinský’s Sexy Paradise: Woodcut Series Explores Edenic Pleasure

Max Švabinský (1873–1962), a Czech artist who moved through Realism, Symbolism, and Art Nouveau, is best remembered for his brief but intense Edenic interlude. Between 1916 and 1922, he created a series of woodcuts titled Sonata del Paradiso, depicting Adam and Eve in a state of innocent, joyful sensuality before the Fall. Unlike earlier German Renaissance prints by Dürer, van Leyden, Baldung Grien, or Burgkmair that focused on Original Sin and the Expulsion, Švabinský’s couple plays nakedly, without malice, discovering physical pleasure with childlike wonder. The artist’s lifelong attraction to sensual themes is evident in earlier works: a 1902 charcoal drawing inspired by Rodin, a 1918 stamp design showing a bare-breasted peasant girl, and a 1929 drypoint of a girl undressing. Švabinský also produced monumental designs for stained glass at St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague and meticulous drawings for stamps and banknotes, earning him the title of “State Artist” in 1945. The article, published in Artribune Magazine #64, was written by Ferruccio Giromini.