Carlo's Spanish Ladies

What's that I feel in the air?  What could that be?  Why, if I'm not mistaken, it feels like it's time for another

Evil Dolly's Featured Fetish Artist of the Day:  Carlo.

There's not a lot I can say about Carlo because hardly anything is known about him.  At least not that I've been able to dig up.  Even the name, I believe, is pseudonym.  He's rather obscure, though perhaps you've seen his work before if you've ventured often into these stygian circles of art.  If you have, it probably came from one of the nearly two dozen books he illustrated.

Leather Triumphant. As well it should be.

Wait a minute. Dolly, Slave? I hope that's 'Dolly and Slave' not 'Dolly the Slave'.  Hmph.

There's a fair reason he is obscure and that is because his work was mostly published in the early 1930s.  I know!  Who knew there were even kinky people back then?  Well, of course there were.  But you probably didn't find stuff like this very easily in those days.  You might think Stanton was vintage, but Carlo pre-dates a lot his earliest work by nearly twenty years.  Think about it -- these were being drawn when "Talkies" were still an innovative new thing in movie theaters;  drawn at the same time as Disney's Snow White was still being animated.

On to the subject matter.  With some exceptions, it's mostly black and white line drawing with minimal shading.  Simplistic, yet expressive.  For the most part, the women (the scenarios are mostly female-on-female, women whipping and tormenting their servants or slaves) wear heavy corsets and stiletto boots.  I appreciate the design of the outfits.  There are are a lot of ruffs and ruffles, pom-poms, and other things which are feminine but can also be exaggerated in order to humiliate.  The subjects are frequently protrayed roaming over the grounds of a large garden or in the rooms or dungeons of a mansion.  The books were published in France, but the clothing and environment appear Spanish.  I don't know whether that is because the artist was Spanish, or if that was merely the setting of the books he was illustrating.  Either way, I like the look.  It's alluring.  Dare I say, sultry?

The art style is typical of that of the 20s and 30s, but it feels more modern than that.  Perhaps it's the subject matter, a certain creativity, a deviousness, which wouldn't look out of place if compared to many current, jaded fetish art.  It's a strange mix, honestly;  it looks old but it doesn't seem that old.  Here are some ponygirls:

Note the one on the left.  The bridles, the tack, the plumes and restraints would fit right in with today's real life pony play.  It's practically the modern standard of the proud modern pony, if there could be said to be one.  Which makes me wonder.  For just the ponygirl design, did Carlo have other earlier artists from which he drew inspiration and ideas, or did he come up with it on his own in a vacuum?  Who was the first to seed the design, to sire if you will, the look of modern ponies?

One thing Carlo seemed fond of drawing is predicament or encumbrance bondage, where the purpose of it is to make simple activities very difficult.  I've always been fond of the concept of ball-and-chains, myself... though, sadly, it's just not that practical these days.  Heaven forbid what would it do to wood floors, much less stone tiles.  Ah, anyway, as examples:

"Of course you need the hat. It's pointless without the hat."

"Tsk. Fallen again. Barrel Girl Four, why can't you be more like Barrel Girl Three?"

Carlo's predicaments often involved multiple women bound together, forced to cooperate in order to get anywhere or sometimes to simply survive.  Aw, she's crying.  How nice.

There's no "I" in "Teamwork."

He also seemed to enjoy drawing situations where the girls were forced to fight, often bound together and often armed with whips, purely for the sport of others.  I don't know why but I just love the "cock" on the left.  So brassy!

I'm really not sure where you can find these books today.  I did see one reprint for sale over at Last Gasp books.  Last Gasp, by the way, is a pretty good place to start when looking for books and compilations of any fetish artist.  Or any obscure/underground artist, for that matter.

For any artist who feels isolated by their own desires, take heart.  You aren't alone and this stuff has been around long before you were even born.  You come from a long lineage of beautiful perversities.  Carlo's work reminds us: There is nothing new under the sun.

"And now:  The Dance of the Wiggly Bagworms!"