Artwork
Desire Me
Desire Me is a watercolor work on paper by the Pop art artist Allen Jones. It dates from 1969 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
Overview
Desire Me is a watercolour work by British artist Allen Jones, created during his early career when he was linked to the emerging Pop art movement. The piece depicts a single female figure rendered in a stylised, highly sexualised manner, characteristic of Jones’s recurring visual language.
Subject & Meaning
The composition presents a woman clad in glossy PVC attire and towering stiletto heels, positioning her as an object of conventional male desire. The portrayal reflects mid‑twentieth‑century erotic fantasies, echoing the objectification prevalent in popular visual culture of the era.
Technique & Style
Executed in watercolour, the image employs flat, saturated washes that mimic the smooth finish of commercial illustration. Jones’s approach draws on the crisp, air‑brushed aesthetic of 1940s‑1950s pin‑up art, translating that glossy commercial look into a fine‑art context.
Context
Jones studied at the Royal College of Art in the late 1950s and early 1960s, a period when a cohort of British artists began to engage with Pop art’s focus on mass‑media imagery. His work aligns with this trend, appropriating the visual language of popular advertising and erotic illustration.
Legacy
The painting exemplifies Jones’s longstanding interest in the sexualised female form, a motif that has provoked ongoing debate about gender representation in contemporary art. It remains a reference point for discussions of objectification and the influence of commercial imagery on fine art.
Artist & collection
Artist
Allen Jones (born 1 September 1937) is a British pop artist best known for his paintings, sculptures, and lithography.
