In 1992 Madonna’s SEX book made waves. Today its impact on fashion photography is undeniable

‘I am my own experiment. I am my own work of art,’ Madonna told Vanity Fair in 1991. The following year she embarked on a project that embodied this sentiment in every sense. Made in collaboration with Steven Meisel, Madonna’s notorious SEX book saw the pop idol take on the dual role of creator and subject in a boundary-breaking series of photographs that were at once playful, erotic and liberated. 

The publication was an instant sensation. Madonna was the unequivocal protagonist of SEX, which included some of the most famous faces of the 1990s and sold more than 1.5 million copies worldwide. Not without controversy, the title drew both praise and criticism for its outspoken treatment of sexual themes. Banned in 3 countries upon its release, it remains the fastest-selling coffee table book of all time.

On 6 October Christie’s will present Madonna x Meisel – The SEX Photographs, a live auction of over 40 works, as editions of one. ‘This is the only chance to own one of these works as a fine art print’, says Darius Himes, Christie’s Deputy Chairman and International Head of Photographs. A portion of the proceeds from the auction will go to Raising Malawi. A curated selection of the offered photographs has already toured Paris and London and will be on view at Christie’s New York from 30 September through 6 October. 

The sale is part of an ongoing anniversary celebration initiated by the recent re-issue of SEX in 2022. Madonna and Saint Laurent’s Creative Director Anthony Vaccarello marked the 30th anniversary with a first-ever limited re-edition of the notorious book and an exhibition at Miami’s Art Basel.

More than 30 years after the book’s initial release, the cultural impact of SEX is undeniable. The photographs offer an uninhibited exploration of sexuality, through the eyes of one of the era’s most influential fashion photographers and the reigning Queen of Pop. 

‘The work is now classic as one of the great art fashion shoots of the 1990s, and it remains very provocative in its ideas,’ says Himes. 

Madonna partnered with Steven Meisel, whom she knew from the New York club scene, to work on SEX in 1992. He was one of the most in-demand fashion photographers of the period. He also played a key role in promoting the careers of many top models, including Linda Evangelista and Naomi Campbell, the latter of whom would appear in SEX.

He drew from a rich array of sources across fashion and fine art to produce his iconic images. ‘Meisel is famous for taking cues from previous styles and making them undeniably his own’, Himes notes. 

In the black and white photographs that make up Madonna and Meisel’s 1992 book, one can see inspiration from the classic fashion photography of the 1940s and 50s, from figures like Erwin Blumenfeld, Horst P. Horst and George Hurrell. A pioneer of the ‘glamour shot’, Hurrell captured idealised portraits of celebrities in the pre-paparazzi era. Blumenfeld and Horst brought their love of Surrealism and avant-garde techniques into the world of editorial photography, emphasising the sculptural lines of their models in dramatic compositions.

Later on, Richard Avedon, Irving Penn and Robert Mapplethorpe would further these ideas and apply them to more provocative subjects. Mapplethorpe’s black and white photos abstracted the natural world, turning his subjects’ skin into sculptural material. With Madonna, Meisel synthesised all these approaches, using glamourous poses and a sculptural sense of the body to create wholly contemporary images about sexual fantasy with a diverse array of models and characters. He was also inspired by the highly stylised and erotically charged photographs of Guy Bourdin and Helmut Newton. 

While the imagery of SEX made nods to sculpture and abstract art, Madonna’s role as both artist and muse drew inspiration from another avant-garde medium: performance art. In the book, Madonna takes on the persona of Dita, inspired by Dita Parlo, the elegant, bedroom-eyed film star of 1930s Germany. Dita’s frank, fantasy-driven text runs throughout the book, with the curvy script running across some of the photos.

‘A lot of people are afraid to say what they want. That's why they don't get what they want,’ Dita writes in the book. They’re words Madonna lived by, and she went for exactly what she wanted in creating her volume of erotic fantasies. The top creative team included editor Glenn O’Brien, makeup artist François Nars, hair stylist Garren, stylist Paul Cavaco and art director Fabien Baron, who shot Super 8 footage on set that became the music video for Erotica. The fluid and spontaneous scenes feature celebrities from all spheres of pop culture, from rapper Big Daddy Kane to Princess Tatiana von Fürstenberg.

Madonna envisioned the book as an art object, and the bespoke printing and format of the volume, encased in an aluminium cover and Mylar wrapper, was unprecedented for a book with a print run of a million copies. 

‘The book is spiral bound, it uses unconventional materials. The work is in colour, black and white, and certain images have handwriting applied over them’, Himes describes. ‘They're trying everything — collage, shadow work, straight portraiture, and the spontaneity of a fashion shoot. There’s this extremely playful creativity that goes outside of the bounds of a typical fashion shoot. She’s putting on different personas and exploring the liberation that comes with identity exploration.’ 

While Madonna has never shied away from speaking her mind and promoting freedom of expression, the SEX photographs marked a turning point in her career and her image. With its empowering spirit, the project had a broad impact, generating conversation about sexual self-expression in the 1990s. In the intervening 30 years, both Madonna and Meisel have continued to push the limits of their respective art forms, and their 1992 collaboration remains as pertinent as ever. The chance to own one of the photographs from this legendary moment has been but a fantasy — until now.