Art Bob 2

Read Part 1 of Art Bob

Art Bob - GoldBrickers

We'd call them 'slackers' or 'malingerers' these days. Three men trying to get a Doctor's note for a few days off work. Or perhaps it's just an excuse to be examined by the handsome, young Medic. The degree of disrobing he requires of them suggests he has an exacting and thorough technique (and equally dubious motivations?). 

 

The hunk in the foreground is wearing shorts that are both rolled down at the waist and rolled up at the leg to create a sort of loin cloth effect. He is faking a fever by putting his thermometer on a hot radiator, which itself is puffing out smoke signals of appreciation for the assembled, hot "hunkage". 

 

The current examinee, standing with his flies wide open and nothing underneath apparently, presents himself for the medic's stethoscope, nervously tensed. Anxious perhaps, that his pants will drop at the slightest provocation, revealing something he'd rather keep to himself. 

 

The guy stripping off at the back, for me, is the most interesting, strong jawed and lightly stubbled, he has a cute haircut and muscular arms. A glimpse of buttock tells us he's going to be examined totally naked.  

 

Art Bob - The Bigger They Are, The Harder They Fall

Everyone's already naked in this image, queuing up nervously to get their jabs, of which there are to be a great many, as witness the multiple plasters on those who have gone before. If that wasn't daunting enough, one of them - 'Mr Bigger' - has fainted and is being carried away by his buddies. 

 

Physique Pictorial captioned this as a military induction scenario, which implies the men are strangers and need to demonstrate good masculine resolve in front of their new peers, even if they are naked and defenceless. 

 

There's some interesting detail, a stray hand seeming to pull back the guy at the front of the queue (or perhaps it's tickling the fainted man's foot). The nearest culprit gazing upwards innocently. The recruit at the very back appears to be humping someone. This provocative, but discreetly obscured, forward thrusting pose is seen in other Art-Bob images. 

 

Art-Bob's contemporary, Spartacus, often drew large group scenes like this with sporting and naval settings.  

 

Art Bob - Life Savers

This situation is sort of medical too, but following a book of Life Saving instructions suggests this is about novices getting in practice, rather than a real emergency. Admittedly the 'victim' does looks a bit glum, depending on whether you see his eyes as open or closed. The 3 oil rigs in the distance seem as if they might be an interesting phallic representation of the group's feelings. They also suggest it's based on a geographic location known to the artist.  

 

The portable radio and shades in the foreground are a nice detail. The basket weave, kepi-style cap appears in another image below, US readers may recognise the style, but it's new to me. 

 

Art Bob - Skiing Mishap (my title)

 Another young man seeking his buddy's help with a bad case of burnt bottom after misjudging the strength of the sun rays on the snowy ski slopes. The ointment and liniment on the bench suggest his friend is equally stricken, but he still looks highly dubious about the prospect of mutual oiling in that particular area.  

There's an odd-looking detail in the grass beyond them that looks rather like a big cat with menacing fangs. It's actually a bearskin rug, and it appears in one of other pictures in the set (see below). Perhaps to parody of the pain the boys are experiencing.

This is one of six drawings in The 'Skiing' Series. Two others are known to me. One shows the blond trying on his skis, wearing nothing but a hooded top, unzipped to the waist. In the other, he's being roused by his buddy from sleep to go skiing before the snow melts. Both seem to simply showcase the boys' physiques. I suspect there's a narrative in which the snow melts, and they resort to nude sunbathing with disastrous consequences. 

 

Art Bob -The Young Carpenters 1

More bottom pain awaits one of the protagonists in this diptych. Our increasingly hapless blond is working with his buddy again, this time nailing shingles on a roof. He loses his balance and his buddy's efforts to save him only result in ripped clothing.

There's some nice physique drawing here and a distinctly balletic composition, brought out by the light hand used to sketch the background detail. In other images Art-Bob depicts ballet scenes and tights more explicitly. 

The difficult perspective here presents no problems to this accomplished artist.  

 

Art Bob -The Young Carpenters 2

This sequel is quite a well known image, you may have seen it converted into a spanking picture. The blond has landed in a barrel of nails which his friend considerately extracts from his posterior one at a time.

The bulge and shading of the legs of the buddies jeans here is quite effective. 

 

Art Bob - The Artist (my title)

 Many of Art Bob's pictures seem to simply be vehicles for male physique drawing. The artistic hunk in the foreground is a deceptively casual creation. But while he lazily touches up his painting, two naked, young men, posing for him in the background must sustain as pose that must be getting more and more uncomfortable by the minute. So it's also an illustration of the control any visual creator has over his models. 

 

There's a more overtly erotic ingredient in the positioning of the right-hand model's head just in front of him, seeming to suggest he's being obliged to give service, which in a way he already is. There may not be much of a bulge in the artist's jeans, but the dripping paintbrush is equally telling. A rather stylish example of 'hidden eroticism'.

 

Art Bob - Artist With His Model 1 (my title)

There's a similar theme here, with an exceptionally muscular, young model being prepared for his shoot (as it were!). The miniature figure on the floor behind him suggests this is a sculptor's studio, so he's probably in for a long stint. What's more, the coat draped over his shoulders and the broken window behind him, with snow and icicles visible, indicates that this is the proverbial, freezing garret. 

Oblivious of this, the artist takes great pains and time to get the skimpy, modesty covering adjusted just right. The sculptor's clothing, complete with trendy deck shoes, is the product of an artist well versed in fashion sketching, but perhaps not the typical attire of bohemian artists.

 

Art Bob - Artist With His Model 2 (my title)

 In the sequel, the sculptor has given the poor model ear-muffs to wear - in response to his complaints about the cold presumably. To add to this indignity, they are particularly feminine, fluffy muffs. He is also obliged to pose holding a household broom instead of a manly spear, highlighted by the contrast with the authenticity of the helmet.

The sculptor working on his model looks at him as if mystified by his grumbles. Of course, he's wrapped up warm himself. At first sight he looks like a painter cleaning his hands with a rag, but he is actually modelling a figure, you can see the shape of the legs, matching those of the model.  

 

Art Bob - Crowded Quarters

 

In their youth, men are usually undismayed by having to share quarters and bare all to other men. The two hunks in the foreground here seem happy to improvise, doing their morning ablutions in close proximity without any apparent concerns. The close arrangement of crotch and elbow is not without erotic interest, nor of course the bent over pose of the nearest man.

 Their younger flatmate, waiting his turn, seems to positively enjoy the spectacle of them jostling at the sink. While they are preoccupied, he seems to be holding up someone's undershorts for a closer examination, as if wondering how they would feel on him. Art Bob seems to have liked this criss-cross pattern, it crops up in a number of his drawings. 

This man also seems to be holding a rosebud which I'm not sure how to interpret. Is it a symbol of his crush on the owner of the pants? Or of what he imagines extracting from them? Maybe the forward thrust of his pelvis and the shielding of his crotch by the backside of one of the hunks provides the answer. Well we can all dream!

 

Art Bob -Water Shortage

 This picture has a similar 'sharing' theme to the one above, but is almost the opposite in emotional terms. These four men jockeying to get some of the water that is dripping out of the shower head are definitely not happy with the arrangement. When it was published, Physique Pictorial related it to military service, when of necessity, washing arrangements were often improvised. 

 

Comrades in arms usually make the best of such inconveniences, but the levels of embarrassment on display here seem to go far beyond that. There's a certain, very mitchmen-esque pleasure to be derived from their predicament. 'Trim' No 3 bizarrely observed that "the English might consider that these boys deserve this fate". Be that as it may, we are deprived of Art-Bob's usual cute faces as a result and must content ourselves with some luscious physique detail.

 

The picture is not without erotic humour, however. The muscular blond in the foreground is rubbing his backside, almost as if he has felt a surreptitious touch. Beyond him, a comrade looks back over his shoulder, as if he might have felt the same thing, as they bathe, accidentally cheek to cheek. Or perhaps it's his wandering hands that were responsible, and he's feigning innocence but can't resist observing the reaction of his target. 

 

The same might be said of the figure on the left, whose willowy physique is another example of Art Bob's forward thrusting pelvis action which produces a natural bunching of the backside and possibly in this case, embarrassment for the man in the middle soaping his hair, he's seen what we can't!

 

~

 

More Art Bob in Part 3 (article pending)

 

Read Part 1 of Art Bob