FOLK PORN: Anonymous 1940s Sex Drawings

In an abandoned storage unit in Philadelphia, a collector discovered more than 150 works on paper by a presumably self—taught artist. The works fall into distinct groups—pencil drawings that are often sexual jokes, explicit watercolor scenes, and drawings on mimeograph paper.

Clues to the identity of the artist and the timeframe in which the works were made are embedded in the materials. The ledger paper and safety protocol forms that presumably he used as a support bear the letterhead of th...