Product Details
Hardcover: 270 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.03 x 9.60 x 6.42
Publisher: St. Martin's Press; (March 16, 2000)
ISBN: 0312205260
In-Print Editions: Paperback | All Editions
Average Customer Review: Based on 3 reviews. Write a review.
Amazon.com Sales Rank: 83,309
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
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 the Paperback edition.
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...
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Book Description
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.
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All Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review:
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3 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
tom vs., August 14, 2000
Reviewer: dietrich blaub (see more about me) from jönstad
tom of finland is a demonstration and if you re intrested in gay-art
you must have this book as soon as you can ....so this masculity is
supported by heavenly drawings
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3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
A Must for Your Coffee Table, July 22, 2000
Reviewer: A reader from Arlington, VA
"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
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9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
Tom Tom Tom, April 9, 2000
Reviewer: Stacey (see more about me) from Lincoln, NE United States
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!
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