[7] His reputation was soon established, and he received many commissions to illustrate both major authors and the so-called "galante literature" of the day, a form of erotica.

[citation needed] Because of the perceived obscenity of Avril and his works, it is difficult to assess the impact that his art might have had on the culture of the time.

Avril also illustrated John Cleland's Fanny Hill (also known as Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure), which was a significant and controversial publication of its time as it was the first novel to bring erotica to English literature.

The book's edition that Avril illustrated includes Les charmes de Fanny exposés, which is one of his better-known pictures.

He illustrated works including Gustave Flaubert's Salammbô, Gautier's Le Roi Caundale,[1][4][9] Jean Baptiste Louvet de Couvray's Adventures of the Chevalier de Faublas, Mario Uchard's Mon Oncle Barbassou (scenes in a harem), Jules Michelet's The Madam, Hector France's Musk, Hashish and Blood, the writings of Pietro Aretino, and the anonymous lesbian novel Gamiani.