How many auctions come with the warning “this sale contains sexually explicit, adult material not suitable for minors”? The online auction house Auctionata has attached the cautionary label to its first Erotica sale, which will be livestreamed from its New York branch on 27 August. The 104 lots run the gamut from chaste to hardcore, featuring early nude photography, cheeky Swiss pocketwatches and works by some of the heavy hitters of the contemporary art scene. Under the online cloak of anonymity, bidders can vie for Paul McCarthy’s green sculpture Santa Octopussy (2004), the top lot with a $30,000 starting price, or his chocolate figurine Santa with Butt Plug (2014), at the lower price point of $500. Among the works most likely to require “viewer discretion” is—still—Robert Mapplethorpe’s X portfolio (1978) of gay S&M photographs, which sparked a culture war when they were shown in Cincinnati 25 years ago. Bids start at $16,000.
