This volume documents a moment in the history of American culture - a period in the 1930s, 40s and 50s that gave birth to a new notion of male beauty and desire, and to a new type of male icon. Long before Stonewall and the gay pride movement, a small group of daring men - photographers and the models who sat for them - helped pave the way for male sexual liberation. Led by photographer George Platt Lynes, and featuring men such as Jean Marais, Yul Brynner, Paul Cadmus and Tennessee Williams, the group - straight men as well as gay - shattered taboos surrounding the artistic representations of the male figure. The influence of their work continues today, and can be seen in the work of modern artists including Bruce Weber, Herb Ritts and Robert Mapplethorpe.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book just becomes more important with time,
By Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE) (TOP 50 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Naked Men (Hardcover)
When David Leddick first published NAKED MEN: PIONEERING MALE NUDES 1935 - 1955 in the year 1997, many readers voiced the opinion that other photographers' books admiring the beauty of the masculine physique were far superior, more provocative, more erotic, and so forth. What is becoming more evident now six years later is just how sensitive Leddick's writing is and how insightful this study remains. His premise - to address artists who either photographed, painted or drew the male nude in a period of time when the male nude as subject was verboten - reveals a brave period of history in gender studies. Leddick shares many images of young men and pairs those images with current (at the time of his writing) views of those pictured models. This could be a gimick if it stopped there, but Leddick has the sensitivity to focus on truly significant artists, allowing us insights not avialable elsewhere in the literature. A long portion is devoted, naturally, to George Platt Lynes who more than most photographers devoted his camera to captruing the 'compleat' persona of artists such as Jared French, Christopher Isherwood, Yul Brynner and well established studio models. What he shows us are the photographs taken from 1935 - 1955 and then shares photographs of those models today. He also visits Lincoln Kirsten, Paul Cadmus, Lew Christensen, and Tennessee Williams and has many interesting anecdotes which he shares in well written prose. This is not a book of homoerotica (though the models both young and old are beautifully captured). This is a vital volume of history that makes as interesting a treat for the mind as it does for the eye. Especially recommended for the collector who has Leddick's later books - this preludes the spectrum of what is to come. Grady Harp, September 10
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