Art by Holzman - Merchant Navy (revised)

Holzman - Merchant Navy 1

This Hussar advert in 'Fizeek' magazine in 1963 introduced a new artist to the gay scene, Holzman, with a 'playlet' about a nautical thief. The illustration shown is one of the opening images of the series showing the 'toughie' arriving on board the boat with his kit bag. You can tell he's tough because he's got a torso-revealing, open jacket (leather?) and a cigarette drooping from his mouth. You sense he's a man with attitude, although the cant of his head and squint here is what smokers do to keep their cigarette smoke out of their own eyes. In that respect this is a neat little piece of observation by Holzman, documenting a practice that's gradually dying out now. The tough is thoughtfully examining something that he's found, his seaman's papers perhaps, although I suspect it's a bottle  (see below). 

I have 15 of the advertised 16 images in this story but no information about their sequence and have therefore  simply numbered them in what seems to be the logical sequence based on continuity.

Holzman - Merchant Navy 2

The new boy climbs on board with a long, butt enhancing stride and a determined look on his face. 

The texturing of his jacket and jeans suggests they might be leather, which in the 60's was thought of as the uniform of wild bikers. However, the presence of turn-ups and the styling of the jacket with visible seams is more suggestive of denim, a more suitable material for working on a boat.

Holzman - Merchant Navy 3

Below decks, the toughie examines a bottle of alcohol which has a label promising serious gut rot. It's enough to make him drop his cigarette, which apart from being a breach of good manners, is liable to start a fire on a boat, a danger to life and limb. 

Despite these shortcomings in his character which we are learning about, he's portrayed as a sexy beast. The 'Latin look' was quite common iconography at the time and very exotic to UK eyes. The exaggerated fleshy lips and dark-rimmed eyes seem to be borrowed from female notions of sexual allure (regretably, for the image of gay men). A distinctive vocabulary for the male equivalent had yet to be developed (and probably wouldn't have been accepted by society at large anyway).

The straw-clad carafe of wine in the cupboard behind him is a nostalgic image from a less sophisticated era in the UK. You might also recognise the 'Heinz 57 Varieties' label on the tin on the bar, amazingly it hasn't dated in 60 years and I suppose the same is true of his fashion wear.

Holzman - Merchant Navy 4

In this image it seems that the new crewman has removed various articles to his cabin and is about to hide them in his kit bag, furtively concealing his actions from a member of the crew working on the deck just outside. It must be a hot day because everyone seems to be undressing. The enticing glimpse of flesh through the porthole is the calf of a crewman walking towards the left of the picture. 

You could be forgiven for thinking here that the glimpse of flesh has sparked an impromtu massage with the bottle or even that the thievery entailed drinking some of the liquor and then topping up the bottle with piss to hide the theft. This clever 'hidden eroticism' deserved to have escaped the attentions of the censors, because it's very nicely drawn picture, a neglected classic. 

The villain has become more Anglo-Saxon-looking in this image, but I think it is the same character. judging mainly by the turn-ups (see image 2) and the presence of the two tins from picture 3. The Latin look does return later but only in one special example.

The smoky effect at the left, by the way, is not the result of his dropped cigarette but a scanning effect. It has fortuitously added a nice texture of dappled light to an otherwise 'flat' image.

Holzman - Merchant Navy 5

The villain's activities are disturbed by the arrival of a 3rd crewman (also apparently wearing a leather jacket). He too starts to undress, whistling as though routinely changing into his work clothes, which judging by the porthole vision in the previous picture might consist of very few clothes indeed. The thief is horrified, presumably imagining he's about to be exposed - as a thief, according to the story line, or, in the more subversive sub-text, as a man who has problems with naked male flesh. 

Holzman's picture here copies classic, film noir imagery, with the unsuspecting innocent making himself ever more vulnerable to a hidden threat of which he's unaware. The hidden eroticism in this image surrounds the ambiguous interpretation of the bottle, angled just right to suggest the villain is getting other ideas about this new arrival. The coat hook just above his head provides a more graphic hint of what he might have in mind with the backing plate suggesting a tight fit could be his reward. 

Holzman - Merchant Navy 6

This growing tension seems to be triggered into a full-blown crisis, by the arrival of a third man. He appears to be the skipper of the vessel, previously glimpsed through the porthole in picture 4 and now revealed to be dressed only in a cap, skimpy slip and sea boots (the last a worrying link to the label on the bottle!). At this point the undressing crewman has lowered his underpants. In fact they are nowhere to be seen, presumably lost in the folds of his jeans, unless they're ripped to pieces on the floor.  

The villain's reaction seems a bit over the top. In the story plotline he seems to think that his exposure as a thief is imminent and so goes into self-defence mode, smashing the bottle to use as a weapon 

(or it could be that he's suddenly revolted by the thought of having drunk it's contents!) 

Alternatively, in the delicious ambiguity that pervades this story, the young skipper's sexy appearance here offers an erotic explanation of the actions of the villain back in picture 4. His panicky reaction now is triggered by the rapidly accumulating male nudity and the sudden prospect that he might be about to witness something unspeakable going on between these two men, whom, we should remember, didn't know he was there until he announced himself by smashing the bottle. He might even be drawn into it, producing an explosion of a different kind.

There used to be a accepted legal principle of 'homosexual panic', i.e. a fear of being in imminent danger of being raped by a homosexual. This was advanced as a legitimate excuse for assaulting gay men and even killing them. In some cases the reaction hid the fear of having his own, secret, homosexual leanings exposed. This concept perversely confers on gay men, a power over straights that is erotically appealing, if entirely fanciful.

 Holzman's rendering of the hunky skipper is masterly but some severe cropping seems has gone on at the sides. It has spoiled the depiction of his crewmate (left), while the villain's aggression act has been converted into a disembodied, eerie 'manifestation'. This may have been intentional, to amplify the sense of panic and the shock to the sailors. However, it was also common practice in this period to publish incomplete images in order to encourage viewers to buy the full artwork.

Holzman - Merchant Navy 7

Somewhat surprisingly, the villain chooses to confront the defenceless, nearly naked seaman with the bottle rather than the Captain. It's him (or his nudity) that he finds most threatening, or it could be that this crewman has challenged him or is attempting to calm him*. Interestingly, his jeans have now dropped round his ankles and the villain is suddenly sporting a recognisable manifestation of excitement in his jeans rather than the generalised bulge seen occasionally in the preceding pictures. 

*Perhaps Holzman simply thought cropping it made a better picture. Whatever the case it's a great image using a challenging viewpoint. The quality of these pictures in both technical and dramatic terms is certainly on a par with the emerging stars of this era - Tom of Finland and Etienne.

Holzman - Merchant Navy 8

The captain intervenes with a mighty upper cut. By this time, his half-undressed crewmate is down on the floor, on his knees (and with bare ass raised in a classic, passive pose). The broken bottle is nowhere to be seen, suggesting that he managed to disarm the villain before he could do any damage with it.

Holzman has included the coat hook (from picture 4) in this image, positioning it a short distance from the villain's half-open mouth. It sort of matches the sweep of the Captain's fist but also suggests there's an erotic forfeit in store for him, one that is slightly off-piste at this point.

I don't have a satisfactory copy of this picture but it's too important to leave out. 

The cartoonised version below gives a neater sense of how the original might have looked.

Holzman - Merchant Navy 8 (AI variant)

This more balanced variant gives a better sense of the drama of the moment. It also brings out the nudity of the fallen sailor, almost seeming to suggest that the other men are fighting over him (hence, I suppose, the presence of the phallic coat hook, which, in a bizarre AI tweak, is suddenly dripping!). 

However, we can also see more clearly that the fallen sailor's arm is entwined with the villain's foot, confirming his active role in overpowering him. 

Holzman - Merchant Navy 9

The thief is down but not yet out as the crewmates pile onto him. The captain's hands are clasped tightly together round the villain's neck but he is struggling manfully to detach them. The second crew member, having disentangled himself completely from his jeans and underpants, has grabbed the villain's free arm and is pulling it into his uncovered crotch, where it can't cause any mischief (but feels nice). 

Ominously for the villain, his flies have come undone and his Y-fronts are pushing up through the gap and being nuzzled by the skipper's shin (entirely accidentally, I dare say). His choice of underwear makes the downward pointing bulge in picture 6 improbable, although the picture below shows they are not a very tight fit, so maybe it was an escaper.

 

Holzman - Merchant Navy 10

The sailors turn the villain upside down, perhaps hoping to see what will fall out of his pockets, which is the traditional way of exposing a thief in kids' comics. It also has the effect here of pulling his jeans off completely, which will enable them to conduct a more thorough search (or something like that). Losing his pants also makes it a tad more difficult for him to run off, but I suspect that being undressed by these men is only going to intensify that instinct.

You may think you've seen this picture before and you'd be right if you're a regular visitor to this blog, because exactly the same picture appears in my article on the Art of Cas. The same that is, except that it is signed there by Cas. Cas and Holzman are the same person.

Another Cas-Holzman picture can be seen at the mitchmen Royale Studio blog in the 'Timeline' post section 63.1. It's in an ad, emblazoned with the Cas logo, but a contact address has been positioned on top of the original Holzman signature. The background to this name changing is a mystery. Perhaps something to do with publisher's exclusivity.

 

Holzman - Merchant Navy 11

 

This picture and 12 to 15 below have all been retrieved from tiny thumbnails in Hussar ads, hence the inferior, fuzzy quality. They suffice to allow us to understand what is going on, however. 

If any reader can supply better versions, please get in touch!

 

The crew have manhandled the villain so he's draped astride a convenient drum. 

 There's a provocative view of his underpants as they prepare to punish him.

The Captain is holding a knotted rope in his hand.  

A loop of rope hanging on that peg behind them offers further restraint options. 

 

It's unclear what the crewman on the right is doing. He appears to be holding a cane in which case this image might also be sequenced to follow on from the next one. However, there's no cane in the other pictures, I think it is just a flaw. He might be hand-spanking him however. 

Holzman - Merchant Navy 12

The captain begins, flogging him with a knotted rope. His crewmate (underwear restored to preserve decency) sits on the villain's head to hold him down (with his balls resting on his shoulders where they can enjoy the villain's movements as he reacts to the thrashing). His pose here, with the characteristic turning of the head is very reminiscent of the contemporary artist, Spartacus.

The skipper's fleshy physique does not disappoint in this picture but his face has now transformed rather unpleasantly into an appearance similar to that of the villain when he arrives at the boat. This seems to be a look chosen by Cas to represent nastiness and it's been gradually developing in the Captain in the preceding pictures, like something out of Dorian Gray. 

Cas seems to be playing with a very dubious stereotype of foreignness here and unnecessarily so since it would perfectly OK for the cute, hunky, young man in picture 6 to maintain order on his own boat without turning into a demon. I suppose there's a certain satisfaction in the villain being 'out-nastied', having underestimated his intended victims. 

 

 

Holzman - Merchant Navy 13

The villain must have struggled energetically during the assault because the Captain has lost his cap and the two sailors have had to tie him down over the barrel with his arms and legs spread wide. The crewman who was earlier threatened with the broken bottle, still has the miscreant's head between his legs. He pulls it up by the hair so it's snugly wedged in his crotch, almost face upwards here so it gets the fullest experience. He takes his turn flogging him with the knotted rope, no doubt enjoying the villain's struggling movements between his thighs. These exertions seem to be dislodging his already skimpy trunks (much in the style of Tom of Finland).

The skipper watches them, flexing his muscles triumphantly. He even seems to be rubbing his packet with his left hand, but that may be wishful thinking on my part!

 

 

Holzman - Merchant Navy 14

  

Finally the villain seems to have collapsed, or at any rate he has stopped resisting. The crewmen lift him bodily almost as if intending to pitch him overboard. Their bulging trunks symbolically almost touch in a sort of low five (or three) you might call it . The rope and barrel have been restored to their places against the wall*. The enhancement and clarification of this image has brought the villain's underpants into stark relief, stretched tight round his buttocks and deep between them. 

*This detail doesn't seem quite right, it would seem more natural for this image to sit before image 11, where the same loop of rope can be seen on the wall. Unfortunately that creates a different continuity problem - with the Captain's hat, which is on his head in images 10 and 11. 

Holzman - Merchant Navy 15

In this final image, again recovered from an advert thumbnail, the punishment seems to finished. The scene has shifted to a bedroom with a washbasin in the corner and the chastised villain meekly seeks the comfort of a cushion to sit on, on the bed. He's now without any underpants at all and there's a faint suggestion of criss-cross weals on his buttocks. It's possible that a bare-ass final spanking was the subject of one of the two missing images.

His two adversaries stand, lording it over him, with undisguised enlargements in their pants. One of them is resting his arm on a long pole which faintly suggests the punishment may even have reached into internal regions in some shape or form. The Captain, restored to normal handsomeness, breaks out the liquor that seems to have been the root cause of the problem. The villain hasn't got much to celebrate but it doesn't look like he's free to go just yet . You sense the affair is not yet over.

~

These images were obtained from the internet and some from TimInVermont,

enhanced by mitchmen where my logo has been added.  

More about artists featured by Royale and Hussar

 

(First published 8th May 2024)

Tom of Finland - Mr Universe, part 2 (final version)

You can read Part 1 of this article first if you wish

 

Tom of Finland - Mr Universe 08 (Oiling Up)

 

On the day of the contest, the buddies change into their costumes and oil up. The dark haired one is being assisted here by some very butch-looking young men. The scenario provides an excuse for some fairly intimate contact between them. The bodybuilder has got himself a sexy, dark pouch with a chain for the waistband, and one of the assistants actually seems to be putting him into it. It's a daring ingredient, albeit well-disguised by a confusing arrangement of hands. 

 

The blond changes his clothes, unassisted. There's a sense of his friend getting all the attention, being pampered and hero worshipped. He's playing up to it, too, striking a god-like beefcake pose with modest downcast eyes. His blond buddy does not seem too dismayed or jealous about it. He is, perhaps, proud of his friend changing from a clumsy, ugly duckling into a swan. Interestingly, his beefcake pose resembles the ballet dancer's 'petit pose' and this conjures up another swan connection - 'Swan Lake', which is also about transformations. However, the Black Swan in that ballet plays a very dark role.  

 

 There's no doubt about this image being part of the 'Universe' set, it was explicitly labelled as such (with title) in Scan issue 8, circa August 1961. The distinctive chain pouch helps to assign other, later images to this set. Apart from these, I know of only two other instances in Tom's work where this pouch design is featured. One is in Beach Boys No 2 (1972) where a leather-pouched sun-bather wreaks havoc amongst the straight crowds. The other is a single image included in the mitchmen 'Tailor Group' article (previously referenced in Part 1 of Mr Universe). That one is not part of this set either, the pouch is white and it's being worn in a studio setting, suggesting a porn star being dressed or fluffed up for participation in something very different. Interestingly, though, it's another 'connected' image dated as 1963 in the Tom of Finland Retrospective Vol 1, but the Universe image above is definitely 1961. 

 

Notice the number 1 written in the bottom left corner. This may offer an explanation of the 1961 v 1963 date confusion. That the later images in Part 1 were post-scripts, prequels if you like, inspired by and elaborating on the run-up to the contest.  That doesn't explain image 3, however, which is indistinguishable in style and provenance from the group presented here.

 

 

Tom of Finland - Mr Universe 09

 The boys strut their stuff on the competition stage.

 

Obviously this is only a fragment of the full image and although it didn't appear until later (in 101 Boys Art Quarterly for Summer 1965), it did so alongside other fragments from the Universe series so it's almost certainly part of it. There wasn't much mileage for Tom in drawing beefcake posing when the magazines were awash with photographs of the real thing, so it's not entirely surprising that no copies of the full image have been found. The cropping here might lead you to suppose that Tom spiced it up with some provocative, costume detail deemed too daring to show. However, this publication seems to have used cropping widely and arbitrarily, perhaps to evade copyright challenges.

 

 

Tom of Finland - Mr Universe 10

 

Needless to say, one of the two boys is fated to win the contest. It turns out to be the blond who has appeared to be the more confident and polished one throughout the (my) story. In a flip of image 8, it's now him who is being feted (with exceptional generosity) by his beaten rivals. Tom uses an unconventional viewpoint at the rear of the stage which shows the enormous, equally excited audience almost clamouring to get on the stage with them. This is the era of pop star adulation, remember, with screaming 'Beatlemania' just around the corner.

 

Tom's backstage viewpoint also shows us the backsides of the bodybuilders, who are all, as expected, wearing very skimpy costumes, halfway to being backless thongs. Their two-man lift has parted the blond's legs (and butt cheeks) creating an extremely suggestive view (the serial croppers at '101 Boys' printed an unsubtle fragment of this specific area framed only by a glimpse of supporting shoulders). Despite this sexy detail, the image was used to advertise the series in Scan 9 (Nov 1961).

 

However, the version above is not the complete image.....

 

Tom of Finland - Mr Universe 10 (version 2)

 This version of the victor's celebration was used to promote the series later, in Man Alive #19 (Mar 1962). It reveals that the blond's dark-haired buddy is watching the proceedings from one side and looking defeated, disappointed and envious. 

 

Notice the lines top and bottom that seem to suggest this version was meant to be cropped as well. However, the extra detail is an important link to what follows. The accompanying blurb talks portentously of 'back-stage struggles'.

 

Notice the Number '3' in the bottom corner of this picture (following the No 1 in image 8). 

 

 

Tom of Finland - Mr Universe 11

  

As the competitors leave the stage, there's an extraordinary confrontation between the two buddies. The darker one attacks his friend, clamping a hand over his mouth as if he's just made some gloating, disparaging remark about him or perhaps disclosed a secret. The cherished trophy is sent flying. This sudden animosity is entirely unexpected*. 

 

But look what is happening at waist level!  He's pulling the blond into a tight embrace, which doesn't suggest their friendship is in any danger. Both their pouches are swollen and nestling together in a remarkably explicit sexual statement for it's time. 

 

The attacker's knee is raised between his friend's thighs, which might be an angry ball-bashing attack, but in reality it seems to be more about contacting his groin and prising his legs open. This detail might just be Tom milking the erotic potential of the scene, but it also seems like an echo of what the loser has just watched other men do to his buddy in image 10. Also, it may be my over-active imagination, but the blond's six-pack seems to have taken on the shape of a giant penis. There's certainly a remarkably strong line tracing down his body to his buddy's groin. 

 

 *Perhaps his annoyance is less surprising if you discount the introductory, character developing images and narrative which I assembled for Part 1. A comment posted here while I was composing this commentary says the set was originally called 'Beating Mr Universe' which implies he's probably just a sore loser. These days we could just blame steroids.

 

There may have been some cropping of his image, but disembodied hands reaching towards the sexy subject of the picture were a popular device at this time. You can see them in Etienne's calendar images and there's a similar 'off-stage' presence in Harry Bush's surfer pictures. Perhaps it's reflecting the cruel plight of men in the 60's who suffered from forbidden desires and were doomed to a life of hiding in perpetual frustration.

 

 

Tom of Finland - Mr Universe 12

 The bystanders drag the two combatants apart. While they glare at each other, the darker one gets a gratuitous groping. It's clear he still has plenty of admirers, the two on either side of him match those seen in image 8*. 

 

Darkie is revealed to have a giant bulge in his pouch, but it's not clear whether it's because of his feelings for his buddy or because of the guy cupping his pecs and furtively snuggling up to his uncovered backside.  

 

The blond on the right seems poised to attack or repel one. This pose can be seen in other fight images by Tom. It's not particularly interesting, but Tom has cleverly positioned his fist in a suggestive position close to the crotch of one of his rival's supporters. 

 

*Tom's fastidious attention to detailing the supporting cast as individuals and regular guys of ambiguous sexuality is one of the joys of his older work. In later years, they tended to become leather clones or cops, which were more or less equivalents.

 

 

Tom of Finland - Mr Universe 13

 

 Relative peace descends and the antagonists return to their post-contest routines, showering off the posing oil and stage grime. Nevertheless, the sense of animosity lingers on. The dark-haired guy has stripped off his 'costume' and is grimly grasping it, as if contemplating using its chains as a flail. He appears to be looking in the direction of his former pal who has just emerged from the shower, but his eyes are closed (or closing) in response to some distracting pampering from one of his loyal acolytes. The masseur appears to be squatting astride his right leg, in a typically ambiguous Tom juxtaposition that appears to suggest his mind is on a service he might like his hero to provide for him. The blond looks on with just the faintest trace of a smile on his face. 

 

The chain pouch confirms this to be part of the 'Universe' series. The picture is taken from 101 Boys Autumn '68, so it sheds no light on the dating of the series. 

 

 

Tom of Finland - Mr Universe 14

While the blond finishes dressing, cramming his bits into incredibly tight jeans, his dark haired buddy creeps up behind him and pinches the trophy. I'm giving his motives the benefit of the doubt in not using the word 'stealing', influenced in part by his suddenly boyish appearance and cheeky grin. I can't say whether Tom intended it to be seen that way. 

 

You'll notice there's a considerable presence in his jeans, perhaps he's excited by his own daring here, or perhaps it's the result of all the attention he was getting in the last picture. But even that excitement and the enticing ass before him does not deflect him from his villainy.

 

This is another image I have reassembled from two 'bleeding chunks' published in the same issue (!) of 101 Boys, Summer '65. It's pretty obvious where the join is. The little statuette that tops the contest trophy (see image 10) can just be glimpsed between the blond's legs. That's a nice, little innuendo that is satirical as well as erotic if you think about it. Thankfully, the cropping just manages to preserve it. In addition, you can just about see that the leather guy's hand is gripping one of the handles.

 

 

Tom of Finland - Mr Universe 15

 The thief emerges from the contest hall to be greeted by the assembled ranks of the press corps and fans eagerly awaiting a glimpse of their victorious hero. Their expressions of shock and horror tell us exactly what they think about being presented instead with a contestant who didn't even make the top 3 (see image 10). He looks annoyingly cute and confident too! 

 

Is that all there is?, you say. 'Fraid so but we must be grateful for this small mercy from Boys 101 (yet again), for at least preserving this much. It resolves the issue of motivation, the guy just craves attention and adulation. The top of a head, just below the trophy, suggests a kneeling press-man who will probably be seeming to give it to him, by performing intimate tasks.

 

 

Tom of Finland - Mr Universe 16

The disappointed crowd turn on the misguided imposter and strip him of his clothing. This reveals a formidable physique that arguably justifies his disappointment at not winning*. It's possible that this revenge is triggered by the blond himself following him out and confronting him (see the middle head of the trio at the back). The ill-gained trophy falls to the ground yet again, helpfully linking this image into the series.

 

*Interestingly, AMG ran a little article alongside images from this set, reporting allegations of 'result fixing' in real bodybuilding contests, but not endorsing them.

 

This image would surely have been the best of the set in uncropped form and original quality. For once this copy isn't taken from the 101 Boys Art Quarterly, but from John Barrington's 'The Tom Album' (1974). The drawing style of the boy on the right closely resembles the characters in an early 1959 biker series which surfaced a few years ago.

 

~

 

In Tom's normal vocabulary of this period, image 16 would probably not have been the final image in his series. We would have seen the trophy restored to it's rightful owner and the miscreant doing penance in some way, possibly by way of a spanking or by grovelling before his better. If such an image exists, I haven't been able to find it but I live in hope.

 

In all we have 9 images (or parts) which can reliably attributed to the 1961 set out of the supposed 12. 

 

   

Click on this link for an Index of ToF articles at mitchmen blog

The labels below link to other topics 

 

Royale Guardsmen Colourised

These fascinating, colourised versions of three Royale Studio photos showing two Guardsmen wrestling, bare-top were kindly submitted to me by Roo Morgan. The colouring transforms these images. The flesh tones draw in the eye, promising erotic interest, which is there if you care to look - the hand placed on the one man's raised buttock , the forearm embedded in the other's own crotch and as for the hidden head, we can only surmise what that is doing. Their interlocking itself is supremely intimate

The uniforms these men are wearing are genuine and Roo has given them authentic colours persuading us that these are real soldiers, real Guardsmen, which they probably were. Men chosen to represent the heights of maleness and strength in our society. The wrestling scenario amplifies those manly characteristics and these two even have tattoos, a badge of uncultured maleness in the 60's, not a fashion.

Royale's predilection for real servicemen gave their images a thrilling tang of reality. Making them strip and touch each other in erotically interesting zones like buttocks, implied that the manly veneer conferred by their uniform concealed undercurrents of bold, homo-erotic desire. In this picture the hint of physical domination and submission to intimacy seems to epitomise that.

It subverted the whole military service ethos of obedience, discipline and working together.
No wonder the establishment was alarmed.

These images show the two Guardsmen in undignified poses, not the sort of image to command the respect their superiors would want of the Services. The upraised bottom and open crotch are hugely suggestive sexually, distasteful even today and socially unacceptable then. There's already a suggestion of mutual embracing here but these two, carefully contrived poses only need to shift a little horizontally to become a simulation of oral sex. A typical example of 60's hidden eroticism which gay men would spot but would go over the head of the average 'man on the Clapham omnibus'. 

 If you haven't visited the new Royale Studio Blog and Gallery yet I encourage you to do so. 
There are several new or upgraded posts there that have never appeared here:

Sailors Wrestling in the Rigging - expanded from one picture to four. 

Peter George in Underwear (the missing PUN-1?)

Peter George's Storyettes (new list)

Peter Watts tied to the rigging (new information)

Plus a whole series of posts about Royale and how they operated
and index of forthcoming storyettes.

~

I welcome any feedback (via comments)

about how you find the design of the new site

A-Z of Fetish Artists - Cas

 

Cas - Hustler

The 1960's artist Cas was an omission from my original A-Z series on fetish artists which seems unwarranted in retrospect. This image, one of his better known, probably explains why I left him out. The hustler clad in skin-tight leather pants has a splendid muscular body but Cas has depicted him as a coquettish vamp right down to the way he is holding his symbolically smouldering match in a pose worthy of Marlene Dietrich. 

It's not a look that grabs me erotically but I suppose I should have appreciated that Cas is emulating Marlene's deliberate, bold assertion of female sexuality and strength that completely debunked the 'little woman' conventions and restraints of her era. Cas's hustler is likewise mocking the stereotyping of gay men by owning and flaunting it. He oozes (almost literally it seems) self assurance and confidence. If you cover his face, the depiction of his muscularity is probably the most erotic in all of Cas's work.

Cas - Aperitif

In this brilliant picture, Cas flips the coin, poking fun at gays who adopt a façade of rough, butch-ness but cannot hide their self-consciously cultivated, inner-selves. This biker is a visual treat for leather lovers. He is beautifully drawn, casually sprawling across an antique chair, in torn, dishevelled clothes with unkempt hair and stubbled cheeks projecting an image that promises rough and dirty sex. There's a cleverly disguised outline of something big in his pants. However, his delicate cigarette holder and tiny glass of aperitif, reveal him to be highly refined. The shoulder-ribbons suggest he's something of a dandy too. 

You can also take this to be an Eliza Doolittle scenario where a tough is being taught manners by a man of a 'higher station' in life. That was not an uncommon experience for gay men back then. By necessity, they met anonymously in public places - toilets, discreet gay bars or clubs - where they were equally likely to meet a plumber or a professor, a rich man or a poor man, a young man or a pensioner, a soldier or a ballet dancer.

Cas - Director's Cut?

Humour runs through much of this artist's work but it's not without it's harder edges. It was commonplace in this era for actors to strip off and be chained up in 'sword and sandals' films. In this jokey take on that, the hapless, aspiring actor suddenly imagines that his role is about to be played out for real. That wouldn't really be funny at all - but it is sexy predicament.

The label to the left of the captive's foot says 'Intolerance Scene 1724', as though part of a long list of additions to DW Griffith's epic 1916 film, on the subject. 

It's ironic that the sadism of Christian story-telling and imagery has for centuries provided a cloak of legitimacy for homoerotic art that explores the darkest forms of  desire.

Cas - Laundromat

The 'mitchmen' blog has visited the laundromat scenario a few times recently (see Art of Oztangles 5 , 'Laundry Day' image for links) but you might be surprised to learn that Cas beat Nick Kamen to it by about 20 years. It's another wry dig at the 'butch biker' image of course but he's done it by taking a common, semi-clad, beefcake magazine pose and dropping it into a real world setting where the erotic implications of the residual cap and boots are enhanced and can ferment in the pants of imaginative viewers. 

The oppressive restrictions of the day deterred him from suggestively showing another man in the image, although a cartoon woman or women registering some sort of comic response, like that in a 'saucy' seaside postcard by McGill would have probably have been perfectly OK.

Smoking cigarettes features in many of his pictures. In those days it was a near-universal practice, often characterised as masculine and expected of you if you wanted to fit in.

Cas - Roughhouse

This image shows the sort of scenario that might have been triggered by that innocent, laundry image. Ostensibly a dramatic wrestling scene it's pretty obvious on further inspection that this man is being enthusiastically helped out of his jeans by the other two. They are both essentially naked as far as we can see, leaving the strong suspicion that his underpants will ultimately go the same way but it's left to us to imagine why. The wooden boarding at the back and the cap and boots worn by one of the combatants look rather like sea-faring imagery and since posting I have stumbled across a copy of this drawing labelled equally clearly as being by Holzmann, part of a series called 'Merchant Navy'. I am still looking into whether they are aliases for the same person.

Cas - Bar Fight

Fight scenes were a legitimate way of showing men interacting in a highly physical manner with their inadvertently ripped clothes exposing sexy flesh. Cas here seems to rely more on the ambiguity caused by relatively featureless, skin-tight clothing. A scattering of playing cards provides a simple excuse for the argument if not the extensive semi-nudity (strip poker doesn't usually get this heated)!  

The scenario is a blank canvas for placing men in close proximity to one another in all sorts of undignified states which is exactly what Cas has done. The careful juxtaposition of bulging crotches, rounded backsides and phallic bottles do the rest. 

This image contains an (Heavenly) host of hidden eroticism. At this time of year I'm tempted to ask readers how many they can spot! The most notable for me is the champagne glass held aloft, as if to an optic in a bar, poised to catch the produce of the bulge directly above. The man holding it is distracted by a curvaceous ass emblazoned with the Cas logo in a way that accentuates it's shape, like a tattoo.

Cas could not have imagined that magazine staples would make an eyewatering S&M addition when the image was published. Or am I underestimating the cunning of  the artist - or the magazine editor? It is a very curiously precise, vertical alignment after all. 

Etienne - Bar Brawl

Etienne also did a bar-room brawl around this time, with sailors. It's a simpler, more fragmented composition but offers a more direct sensuality with the use of colour accentuating the revelatory effect of ripped clothing. There is one notable 'hidden' erotic reference, however, in the pair of sailors far left who could be construed as enjoying a hand job. Etienne's men are remarkably handsome and adult (I love that dishy blond on the floor!) but they are arguably less real and less varied than those of Cas in the preceding picture.

Cas - Balancing Above

Cas loved to depict tight jeans which was the most legitimate way for a man to dress sexily in those days. The biker jacket slung across naked shoulders was a classy embellishment - 1960's cool if you like. Around this time there was also a fashion for low waisted trousers with tiny zips and this picture seems to reflect that trend. Cas, like Oztangles, was abreast of what was fashionable. The upwards looking viewpoint accentuates the effect of the tight jeans and suggests a dominant personality.

This is an exceptionally well-drawn image, breezing through a tricky perspective. 

*Compare with Etienne's skewed bar room perspectives  

Cas - Tights

Although I'm not fond of the way Cas drew eyes, this picture seems very sexy to me with a pugnacious, insolent face (which might have been a prototype for The Hun's trademark blond convict) set atop a muscular torso (glimpsed through an open shirt) and patterned tights that accentuate thick thighs. 

This isn't so much a portrait as a vehicle for erotic characteristics. The patterned tights seem to be those of a circus performer but the sword and distant seagulls point to him being a pirate. These two professions were blurred together of course in the swashbuckling movies of the day starring ex-circus performers like Burt Lancaster - in tights.

Cas - Gardener in Ledehosen Shorts

The half-dressed gardener is the mitchmen brand image and has been the suggestive, saucy background  decoration of numerous adverts and film scenes, most of which post-date this image. 

The clothing of this young man accentuates his physique in a similar way to that in the tights picture above. Here too the open shirt looks as if it is being pulled tight by something hidden inside his shorts. The tattered sleeves are augmented in this image by a tear on one shoulder but are completely missing on the other revealing hairy arms (another brawler?).

He has deliberately turned up his leather shorts, far more than seems necessary for doing his job, but accentuating his hairy thighs and flaunting his masculinity. The prominent pouch does the same job even more directly. He stands, hand on hip with a serious, pouty face, looking like a rebellious teenager whose just been told he's got to do an extra hours. 

You might prefer to see him as confronting someone out of the picture, warning him not to try and interfere with that tempting flap. 

~

Cas was a regular contributor to beefcake magazines in the 1960's but he hasn't acquired the same lasting fame as his contemporary, Etienne, although he was arguably a better draftsman. Etienne had a canny eye for the commercial and played safe with his characterisations, he was also bolder with his subject matter. For all his sharp satire Cas stays within the tradition of innuendo and hidden artifice. 

No direct link for Cas I'm afraid, but there's lots of his images to be unearthed at Tim in Vermont

Royale Studio Models - Peter George 3, Nudes

 You can read this series of mitchmen posts about Peter George, 
the 1960's Royale Studio model, from the start by going to Part 1

Peter George (in Royale Studio set 4-PUN) Catalogue Image

Peter's 3rd solo set for Royale Studio was 4-PUN.

It was a nude set and appeared in the catalogue in 1959.

This is a slightly better version of the catalogue image. Photographed naked against a black background, Peter's trademark, 'little boy lost' look is amplified by the self-conscious, modestly crossed hands. His beefy physique shows up well here but it's no surprise after the glimpses of his bulk we saw in the preceding post about the 2-PUN set.

Manual magazine posted two images from the set in their December 1959 issue but decided it was better to suggest that Peter was in fact clothed. I suppose a suspicious mind might see sexual innuendo in the close proximity of hands and uncovered groin but it's a telling indication of the sensitive nature of gay publishing in this era. 

Interestingly, 'Man Alive' and 'Model Man' had both already published the uncensored version of one of these pictures earlier in the same year, in Spring 1959. Perhaps this boldness had led to seizures of the magazine by the Police in which case Manual's caution may have been well advised. Their reference to his military connections perhaps less so.

Royale's catalogue description tells us there were 20 pictures in this set, but I have unearthed many more than 20 nude studies of Peter on the internet so there must have been at least one later set with nude poses. However, without thumbnail sheets, they are almost impossible to separate. 

   There is a clue to dating these pictures in the publication dates of magazines in which they first appeared. I can trace many back to 1959 this way and they all have solid black backgrounds. Those with lighter coloured back grounds (also included below) appeared a year or two later, but it's not a fool proof technique.   

I have grouped them together here and made a selection of the best images for this post. My complete collection can be seen in Peter George folder in the mitchmen Royale Studio Open Archive (link pending). 

Peter's beefiness also comes to the fore in this splendid image, one of his best, I think. 

Peter's rear is a delight in the storyettes, but this first example we've seen of his backside, full on and completely unclothed. Classically posed with a sword like an ancient warrior he looks formidable, but very, very naked. His oiled skin and wasp waist are deliciously sexy.

In this contrasting view of his physique, a more down-to-earth, youthful-looking Peter wistfully eyes a miniature copy of an ancient statue and copies the pose, as though wishing he were equally well endowed. Such modesty. 

Royale's description of '20 nudes' employed the customary 50's cloak of artistic modelling. But whilst the catalogue image and the warrior (above) with their noble poses, do have a touch of Classical Greek statuary about them, this picture is clearly situated in the present. The statue device was quite common in the beefcake photography of the era representing the double nostalgia for an idyllic era when male beauty was valued and (it was believed) that men had been free to love openly whoever they pleased.

This picture differs from most of its companions in containing rather daring, erotic references which are cleverly disguised by the shadows. That's a walking stick Peter is holding and its curved handle, held between forefinger and thumb (and easily mistaken for a thumb) is a striking phallic substitute in its own right. Its message is reinforced by Peter's rigid forefinger resting on the stock in a way that is inexplicably but unmistakeably suggestive of stroking. Amazingly, this picture was published by Man Alive in June 1959, perhaps no-one noticed!

The use of classical columns has the same intent as the statue, transporting the model to a time when restraints were fewer and distancing the naked body from the disapproval of 1950's UK society. However, a naked bottom seated on, and moulded by, a flat surface is not without sexual interest and the punning, double meaning of 'sitting on a column' would have been quite obvious to viewers of an era when normal gay language was necessarily laden with innuendo.

It's worth remembering that these pictures taken in 1959, two years after the Wolfendon report had recommended decriminalising homosexual acts in the UK, giving hope to the gay population, but legislation to enact it was still 8 years in the future. The ending of magazine censorship and indecency laws that enabled Police to continue persecuting gay men was even further off. In 1959, the Police could easily have found a reason to have broken into this photo shoot and exposed everyone involved. 

This image is less controversial, and it also seems to have a classical inspiration

 in the famed, Greek discus thrower sculpture. 

(Or you might see it as a naked man fleeing from a pursuer on a dark night.)

Peter George (in Royale Studio set 4-PUN) 06

Other pictures in the set are less formal. The boy in the man is disturbingly apparent in this shy, relaxed pose. Boy-love was an unfortunate adjunct of the gay idyl of Ancient Greece and gay mags began to flirt with it more and more openly in the 60's. The imagery doesn't float my boat, but according to the Royale blurb Peter was perfectly legal by modern standards at 21.

Peter George (in Royale Studio set 4-PUN) 05

This 'baby on the mat' pose exploits the same interest using a distinctly provocative camera angle, adding a smile and getting in close. The result is a massive magnification of the eroticism inherent in nudity into what seems like a seductive invitation to bed the model. 

Peter George (in Royale Studio set 4-PUN) 07

This stiff, formal pose is not devoid of erotic allure but is more manly. It has a controlled, submissive quality expressed by the kneeling position with tightly tucked legs. Something akin to a patient awaiting the Doctor's inspection - with a degree of curiosity and apprehension, methinks. 

The overt presentation of the rear view seems less inviting here thanks to the obstruction presented by the model's feet. His wrinkled soles are invitation enough for worshippers of such things, but they also form an opening that works like a reflection of the parted cheeks just above and allows just enough access for naughtiness.... 

Peter George (in Royale Studio set 4-PUN) 08

I feel I'm being reprimanded for my lewd imaginings here. It's virtually the same pose but with that expectant tension released. It transforms the sitter back into the independent, proud man we saw in the opening images. 

His clenched fists seem to clamp down on those erotic innuendos almost as if he is saying, "Is that it? I've had enough". Taking back control of the session from the photographer.

He's still a most desirable young man in his nakedness, but evidently not a pushover.

~

The next group of images are those I have characterised as having lighter backgrounds and believe to have originated a year or two later than the 'black' set. It is possible that they are related to the 'bamboo' (mostly) pouch-clad set which I appended to the 2-PUN pouch set in the previous post in this mitchmen series.

Peter George (in Royale Studio set 4-PUN) 02

This pose is the traditional bodybuilder's, beefcake pose. 

Peter's muscularity is less dramatic in this group,

 but his ass looks cuter if anything - ample compensation.

I'm not sure what's happened to his hair! 

(This image appeared in 'Man Alive' No 18 around the end of 1961, it's the earliest fix I have currently got for these nudes that are set against a lighter coloured background - with squiggly hair which also seems a defining characteristic. You can see his hair is very orderly and elaborately styled in the previous 'dark' picture.)

Peter George (in Royale Studio set 4-PUN) 01

Another discus-thrower sort of pose and appropriately enough Peter is standing on a disc - even if he is not holding one. I suppose the plinth reassures suspicious types that it's art and he's not bending down for any other reason. It also accentuates the sense of him being put on display for others to inspect.

Peter George as The Thinker (in Royale Studio set 4-PUN) 03

A take on 'The Thinker' completes these classically influenced poses. 

It's lighter in tone than the rather intense (nay miserable) original Thinker by Rodin. 

More like a teenager worrying about his homework (or missing time with his pals).

This image from Grecian Guild Studio Quarterly 22 (1967).

Other pictures in this sets strike an even more playful tone.

Peter George (in Royale Studio set 4-PUN) 04

The contrast between those classically inspired images and this 'baby on the mat' pose (also classic in its own way I suppose) could not be more striking. This image is a nicely crafted composition, but it seeks an emotional response rather than an academic appreciation of the male physique with the model making eye contact with the viewer. 

However, this image is not openly inviting like the 'black' variant we saw earlier. Instead, Peter's expression suggests we have stumbled in on a private moment and caught him by surprise. Inevitably it brings out all the boyishness in him, but this is clearly a young man not an immature youth.

The bold shadowing in this particular picture is also seen in some of the other pictures in this 'light' group (not shown here but included in the archive). It is similar to that seen in the 'bamboo pole' set in Part 2, leading me to think they may be connected.

Image from Manorama No 14 (Nov 1963)

Despite its informal sitting pose, this image is firmly focussed on Peter's physique as witness the tensed, indrawn stomach muscles. However, the oily finish shows an attractive, mellow musculature under the studio lights. His arm and thigh muscles are nicely highlighted and the grooves defining his abs are positively sexy, but his upright posture and steely gaze offers no invitation to hanky panky. That vanilla neutrality seems to characterise all of this group.

The image is from Jr. magazine No 41 (1971) which gives you a sense of Peter's lasting popularity.

To conclude, a final image from the 'dark' set showing Peter seated and looking a little sad and lonely. The 'lonely boy' was a classic characterisation of the era and still has resonance today. The speckles on the picture are defects in the magazine print but fortuitously create the sense of a cloudless starry night under which a young man sits wistfully. As ever, his cherubic face belies a physique of some substance, here highlighting his chunky thighs. 

The positioning of his clenched right fist might be considered as an indication that his nocturnal musings have a taken earthy direction.

This image from Fizeek No 4 (Dec 1959)

~

 To date I have found 25 nude images of Peter, not including the one in the 'bamboo pole' set in Part 2. It's too many to include here and some are of inferior quality. but the Peter George folder in the mitchmen Open Archive of Royale Studio photographs contains them all.

Link Pending

The survey of this model's work continues in Part 4 with some more genuine fetish to add to the bondage images already seen in Part 2. I'm beginning to think Peter was a bit of a daredevil!