Pierced Hearts and True Love: A Century of Drawings for Tattoos

With its curious collection of imagery, including vintage freak show advertisements, this book explores the development of the iconography of the tattoo and examines the age-old rite and tradition of embellishing the human body with images, words, and designs. Completely absorbing, the book traces the remarkable changes in tattoo styles and practices in the past several decades that have contributed significantly to this medium's ever-growing popularity and diversity. Particularly fascinating is a chapter devoted to tattooed women that includes photographs from the turn of the century to the present.
This book was published on the occasion of the exhibition by the same name at The Drawing Center, New York held September to November 1995. Includes many color and black and white photographs, paintings and flash. 

Published in 1995 by Hardy Marks Publications
9 x 10½, Softcover,  New, old stock
127 pages
Out-of-print