Dirty Pictures: Tom of Finland, Masculinity, and Homosexuality [Hardcover]

Micha Ramakers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 16, 2000

In this groundbreaking study of the art of Touko Laaksonen (1920-1991), better known as Tom of Finland, Micha Ramakers explores the incredible and defining impact Tom's work has had upon the culture at large. It is work whose erotic and emotional power remains unabated to this day. Lavishly illustrated with drawings and photographs, Dirty Pictures is a lively and entertaining book encompassing the rise of the gay movement, the world of fine art, and the function (and the functioning) of pornography. For the millions of fans of Tom's work throughout the world, as well as readers unfamiliar with his work, this study brings uncommon insight into Tom of Finland's decidedly uncommon work.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In a gay heaven, the choir robes would be designed by Gautier after drawings by Tom of Finland. Even on Earth, utopia must be approaching when the musclebound torsos and bulging baskets of Tom's manly men attract a full-length critical study. Art historian Micha Ramakers, who previously edited a monograph of Tom of Finland's drawings, argues persuasively for the influence of these hyper-masculine figures on gay culture since the mid-1950s, when the artist's renderings of fantasy men first began to appear in American beefcake magazines. Although the consistency of Tom of Finland's technique and themes over the four decades of his working life doesn't leave Ramakers much room to discuss the development of his subject's talents, he makes ample use of his few opportunities (like the introduction of more black figures in the mid-1980s, after the artist spent six months in the U.S.). More rewardingly, he uses the pornographer's work as a lens for examining the evolution of gay masculinity since the 1950s. --Regina Marler --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

More than the work of any other gay erotic artist, Tom of Finland's images of overdeveloped butch bikers, loggers and military men engaging in explicitly sexual activity helped define a gay aesthetic that has influenced such mainstream artists as Robert Mapplethorpe and Bruce Weber, as well as sexuality and masculinity in popular culture. Ramakers, an art historian born and based in Belgium, surveys the career of Tom of Finland--the nom de gay of Touko Laaksonen, born in Finland in 1920--from his earliest publications of the 1950s in Physique Pictorial, a homoerotic U.S. muscle magazine, to his many gallery and museum shows and his lucrative sales at Christie's. Astutely delineating Tom of Finland's influences--from Renaissance religious art to the work of Paul Cadmus, Charles Demuth and Kenneth Anger--Ramakers places his subject in the context of both high and commercial art. Drawing upon such diverse sources as Laura Mulvey's feminist film and literary theory, George Chauncey's history Gay New York and Kobena Mercer's critical race theory, Ramakers confronts the charges of misogyny, internalized homophobia and racism that have surrounded the artist's work. His discussion of Tom of Finland's idealized view of masculinity and its relationship to state-sponsored art of the Third Reich is nuanced and illuminating. Ultimately, Ramakers makes a convincing case for viewing Tom of Finland's work as highly political, anti-homophobic pedagogy as well as sex-positive erotica. (Mar.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; 1st edition (March 16, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312205260
• ISBN-13: 978-0312205263
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,896,269 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tom Tom Tom, April 9, 2000

By 

Stix "Wonderfully Tart!" (Lincoln, NE USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dirty Pictures: Tom of Finland, Masculinity, and Homosexuality (Hardcover)

If you love Tom of Finland, you will absolutely love this book. Seemingly hundreds of his prints, even such rarities from his early work, grace this book and give it a flavor that seems to be lacking from other pictorials. This book is utterly delightful and insightful as to the man himself. It was wonderful and I'd recommend it to anyone. Five stars all the way!

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must for Your Coffee Table, July 22, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Dirty Pictures: Tom of Finland, Masculinity, and Homosexuality (Hardcover)

"The art of Touko Laaksonen (1920 ­ 1991), famous throughout the world as Tom of Finland, has had an incredible and defining impact upon the culture at large ­ an impact that arguably exceeds that of any other artist working in the latter half of the 20th century. It is perhaps even more remarkable that Tom of Finland was not a traditional fine artist ­ his work was most commonly regarded as gay pornography, and rightly so. Yet it is art that not only had a tremendous impact upon the emerging gay culture worldwide but whose erotic and emotional power remains unabated to this day. For millions of fans throughout the world, as well as those unfamiliar with Tom of Finland¹s art, this book brings uncommon insight into a decidedly uncommon body of work." - text excerpt from Stonewall Inn

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tom & his beefy men, February 28, 2008

By 

LARRY (Capitol Heights, MD) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Dirty Pictures: Tom of Finland, Masculinity, and Homosexuality (Hardcover)

All gay men should know who Tom of Finland is. You're bound to see a picture or two in gay bookstores, bars and galleries. If you're not familiar with Tom, then you need to get out more often!

I found *Dirty Pictures* not just fascinating with these wonderful and eye-catching pictures but educational with Tom of Finland's background and his intentions/purposes behind each pictures.

It's amazing how having a network with friends can lead one to be legendary, if you could call it that. Prior to meeting Andy Warhol and Robert Mapplethorne, Tom of Finland's works were just considered pornographic. Over time, that gradually changed.

I wished this book contained all of Tom's pictures, along with a background for each of them. However, with what knowledge that I've learned here, I cannot wait to see the other works of Tom's and do my own analyses. That's the fun part.