Erich von Gotha Biography
To view works by Erich von Gotha on this website, including many that are for sale, please click here Art by Erich von Gotha
The artist and raconteur, the Baron Erich von Gotha, was born Robin Ray in 1930. Sadly, not in Transylvania but in that mecca of lawn tennis, Wimbledon, England. And an English gentleman in manners he remains, though with an edge and humour that will be well known to admirers of his work. It will be seen as well that his imagination can be spectacular and in this there will be no holds barred. If they were with us to speak, this would easily be confirmed by his favourite creations and possibly, muses, ‘Janice’ and ‘Twenty’. He is also an erudite person and though now in his 90s, his ability to draw from a wealth of knowledge is matched by his openness to any encounter with fresh ideas. It should be noted that he has a personal caution about esoteric subjects but his interaction with the philosophical is keen and of great importance to him We will now refer to him as EvG.
After a prescribed period of National Service in the Royal Air Force. He studied art for four years (1951-1955) at St Martins. He had a particular liking for the surrealists that was not shared by his teachers who considered it ‘old hat’. After art school, having married, he pursued a career in advertising and this remained successfully so for many years, even after his first publications as a comic strip artist.
From 1963 to 1966, EvG, though still just Robin Ray, was a full-time lecturer at the Ealing School of Art. One of the stories that can be said of this time is enhanced by the later fame of its main character, Pete Townsend, the rock guitarist of The Who. In Townsend’s biography he recalls EvG asking him how much he was earning from gigs (then with his group ‘The Detours’) and on hearing it was a spectacular £30 a week he was advised to keep on with the music. At nineteen he was making more than his art teacher.
Perhaps the most significant event in the journey towards being one of the most successful erotic artists of modern times was the initial contact with the sexologist, Tuppy Owens. She was searching for a designer for her project, the Sex Maniac’s Diary and put an advert in Private Eye. EvG became the illustrator from 1975 to 1984. His relationship and ongoing friendship with Tuppy was enormously influential and helped lead to his artistic contributions to publications such as ‘Men Only’.
But it is ‘Torrid’, entirely conceived and realised by EvG, that is the substantial overture to the comic strip (Bande Dessinée) extravaganza that was to follow. Indeed, because of its ground breaking importance, we should make it the First Act. Revolutionary and pushing the legal boundaries, it began in 1979 and continued until 1986. One can only say that given he was simultaneously running a successful advertising agency, the amount of work produced for Torrid was amazing. But perhaps the timing of it all is relevant too as it followed on from the liberation of sexuality that began in the sixties and that he had personally enjoyed throughout the seventies. The freed erotic libido can be a great energiser for creative endeavour.
Janice is his best-known creation and in ‘Les Malheurs de Janice’ he has imagined her through many 18th century adventures; four volumes in fact. Published first by Dynamite in France and later by The Erotic Print Society in England as ‘The Troubles of Janice’. Looking at the possible translations of ‘malheurs’, ‘troubles’ does seem the preferable option. ‘Misery’ would not allow for her resilient good humour and ‘discomforts’ would hardly do justice to the content. ‘Trials’ might possibly have done it – it is set in the period of the Marquis de Sade. Though Janice flourished through the art of EvG, she was not originally the child of his imagination as the character and theme of the Janice stories was suggested as a commission. She was though to become his own.
Then there was Twenty, set in present time though on occasions regressing to the Janice era. Again, four separately published stories, and as I write we wait with excited expectation for Twenty 5.
Janice and Twenty are but two of his many female creations. Imagined of course by his main male creation – himself – Erich von Gotha.
This short bio draws from our own relations with EvG and is helped by reference to ‘Les Carnets Secrets D’Erich von Gotha’ edited by his friend and collaborator Bernard Joubert. This is a magnificent showcase of EvG’s career. It is published by ‘Dynamite’.
At Talisman Fine Art we are privileged to be the main agents for EvG’s work in the UK. To see his work on our website, including many that are for sale, please click here Art by Erich von Gotha