Erich von Götha, pseudonym of Robin Ray, and also known as Baldur Grimm [Edit]

Erich von Götha (born 1924, Wimbledon, London) is the pseudonym of the British illustrator and comic book artist Robin Ray.

Robin Ray has worked under the pseudonym Erich von Götha and used another name, Baldur Grimm, as an alter ego. Robin Ray is known for his erotic and, above all, sadomasochistic (meaning sadistic and masochistic) content. His art has been exhibited solo in the Mondo Bizzarro Gallery in Bologna, in an exhibition titled Sweat Tears & Reflections, and in “Larmes d’Eros” in Paris on the publication of “The Secret Notebooks of Janice”. He is represented by Talisman Fine Art who also distribute prints of his work.

Career

He studied drawing and painting for four years at St Martins art school in London and had a career in London advertising agencies as designer and copywriter. He took time off for three years to teach graphic design at Ealing School of Art. A chance meeting with the English sex therapist, consultant, campaigner, writer, and former adult model Tuppy Owens led to the “Sex Maniac’s Diary”, a publication which sold mainly to women. Their publisher suggested to him creating an erotic comic “Torrid”, which appeared irregularly during the 1980s. He ceased when he discovered the publishers were selling the strips that appeared in the first 16 issues of Torrid and were published later in the French magazines YES and Bédé Adult without his knowledge. Publisher Lionel Roc then took up the task of promoting his work. He became famous as an artist with the works Conte à Rebours (for YES), a sci-fi story which was rendered incomprehensible by the circumstances of the translation, and Crimes et Délits (the last work succeeding Georges Lévis) for which he illustrated the section on Rasputin.

However, his most famous work is The Troubles of Janice, set in the time of the Marquis de Sade. It appeared in four albums; the first album appeared in 1980, and the albums represented a close collaboration with the French campaigning writer, historian and collector Bernard Joubert. A luxury edition of all four was published in 2008 by Dynamite. English versions of “Janice”, and “Twenty”, his other ‘serial’ story, were published in the 2000s by the Erotic Print Society.

Since the 1980s he produced many erotic paintings for friends and fans and had several books published by “Larmes d’Eros” in Paris. He continues to produce prints and execute commissions of an erotic nature usually with a mythological theme.

In 2016 Dynamite published a comprehensive biography which revealed, with many illustrations, the facts of his life and work. It was written by his collaborator, translator, and old friend, Joubert.

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