Art by David Angelo

 

 The vintage gay art of the sixties that was printed in beefcake magazines of the time often seems quite amateurish, however this example by David Angelo has a pleasing blend of technical accuracy and sensuality. 

 

Inevitably, the model is clad in a posing pouch, a garment that often attracts derision in our own time, but the artist's treatment gives us a sense of size inside and entrapment, a straining to escape that shows us how the men of the time really saw it. Something truly erotic. 

More on vintage pouches 

 Angelo's drawing is based on a photograph of course, the model's physique and face looks rather like the great Rick Wayne.

 

David Angelo - Gunslinger

 

Cowboys were big in popular culture in the sixties, replete with handsome heroes. Angelo has given this one another idealised treatment, with prominent pecs and nipples straining at his tight shirt. The gun belt fulfils a similar restraining role below the waist. This last detail was not pure invention....

 

Robert Fuller as Jess Harper in 'Laramie'

  

Robert Fuller sneaking up behind John Smith in 'Laramie' 

 

David Angelo - Wrestlers

For this image of two wrestlers, Angelo has cleverly used the same stark lighting to cover up a bold erotic statement. 

 

One of the fighters is caught in a position where he's off-balance and vulnerable. His flimsy pouch inevitably draws the eye, but it's also attracted his opponent's hand. It's groping underneath, in the shadow of his groin. This hold has nothing to do with wrestling! 

In addition, the fighter in the foreground is totally naked, and the dark shadow that hides his far leg accentuates the impression that he's presenting his backside to us. 

It's not simply the sexuality that is so daring, it's the homosexuality. In 1960, just putting men together in a picture was suspect.

 

The lattice pattern in the corner is not part of Angelo's picture, it's part of an adjacent image in a magazine spread. 

 

 

David Angelo - Pop Star's Finale

In 1963 when this picture was published, pop music was starting to shed its veneer of respectability with Beatlemania converting music concerts into manic, adoration events. With its focus on young love, however, it was (and still is) relentlessly heterosexual. Not many pop stars dressed in transparent shirts and matador pants like this (not yet). 

 

Nevertheless, many gay artists tried to incorporate pop into their images. Tom of Finland's 'Ringo' openly sought to subvert the idea of straight entertainers and I suspect Angelo is doing that here too, by showing us his rear view, tensed above opened legs, raised up on tip toes. The singer seems to be ignoring his female fans, who are noisily lusting after his front profile. He's casting aside, too, the female shape of his guitar*. "Come and get me", he seems to be saying. To us, not them.

 

Ultimately these images fail to capture the magical attraction of pop stars, because away from the mic', he's just another bloke. I think I have seen art images of a star being seduced on stage, but I can't cite it at present. Sex in front of a horde of screaming women is a bit niche for me!

 

*The singer's own shape has interesting undulations at waist level, with an odd fit into his pants at the left. It's almost as if Angelo couldn't quite decide how slim, how masculine to make him look.

 

 

Angelo - Slave Auction 

Ever since Victorian times, the Slave Auction has been a 'go to' for artists seeking to portray gender power play and sexploitation in a semirespectable way. It fitted readily into the adoption of classical settings by gay artists seeking to avoid censure in the 50s and 60s. 

 

Angelo's Romanesque take has a very unusual night setting, giving him an opportunity to play with light effects*. The physiques of the two spectacularly muscular men who are manacled and up for sale, are greatly flattered by it - to the benefit of their value too, I suppose.  

 

A key ingredient in this scenario is the depiction of the slaves' emotions. One is proudly displaying himself, seemingly indifferent to the fate which might await him. His companion is, if anything, more muscular, but seems to be cast as a younger servant. He reaches forward, holding up the cloth which screens their groins (for the time being). 

 

The bidders we can see in the audience seem to have their own favourites, suggesting these two will not remain united after the sale.

 

*Angelo seems to have achieved this night effect using chalk or crayon on black paper. It gives something of an etched effect. Some of the detailing is spectacular - the creases of the toga for example. Unfortunately, his characterisation of the second slave, using voluminous hair and rounded cherub cheeks is very much of it's time and doesn't work for us, even if we believed in such improbable muscularity to go with it. With a man's head and face, the whole image would work much better.

 

~

 

More Angelo in Part 2 

 

 
 

 

 

FOOTNOTE 

The Many Faces of James Seely

Last year I posted a series of articles showcasing the vintage model, James Seely (or Selig)

His spontaneous facial expressions in the pictures I found fascinated me as much as his sex appeal.

So much so that I couldn't resist playing with the imagery.

 

James Seely and Dave Hodge (AMG)

 

This is his look of 'I can't believe he just said that'

Dave's is the look of 'why do I have to break them all in?'

James Seely and Dave Hodge (AMG)

The AI-cartooniser brings out an extra dimension to both men's physiques
that's not so obvious in the original photograph - two very shapely bottoms 

with James's being definitely the bubbliest of the two.

 

 

James Seely and Dave Hodge (AMG)

Actually James doesn't look very worried, just a bit defensive. 

James Seely and Dave Hodge (AMG)

 

James is a big boy and seems a lot of fun, so you can't blame Dave for trying!

His expression here seems rather like 'I don't want to think about that sort of stuff'.

Meanwhile, back at the motorbike......

 

 

James Seely and Dave Hodge (AMG)

 Such innocence!

 

James Seely and Dave Hodge (AMG) - Naked Bikers

The look of domestic recriminations between two, very sore losers.

James Seely and John Manning

The contrasting looks of innocence and sexual experience

Innocence is an irresistible challenge

and as we know, experience usually triumphs over it.

 

 

James Seely and John Manning (AMG)

The look of appraisal - and of being appraised and feeling exposed. 

 

 

James Seely and John Manning (AMG)

 Torn between getting paid and getting out of here.

 

James Seely and John Manning (AMG)

Like a Boy Scout, James believes in being prepared.
 

James Seely and John Manning - Wrestling (AMG)

This is what is known as putting on a brave face.

 

 

James Seely and John Manning - Wrestling (AMG)

 

The James Seely series :

The Abandoned Slave

Vintage Bondage - James Seely 

(with onward links) 

More Seely captions in 'Fun in the shower'

~

   This No 33 in 'The Look' series at mitchmen blog,

click on the label at the foot of this post to view the others

or use the mitchmen search function (top right in sidebar) 

Tribute to Stan of Sweden - 2

One of the great fetish fads of the sixties was for putting muscle men in skimpy, tight, white, gym shorts. Scott of London was a memorably, sexy exponent of the genre whilst Royale Studio had a claim to be pioneers of the trend with storyettes like 'The Football Ballet' in 1957 and a number of stunning 'Sporting Hunks' 

Bo Johansson by Stan of Sweden

Stan was late joining this party but this contribution to the genre was typically stylish and restrained.

 Bo Johansson is seen here in a different, far from boyish light. In this rear view his shorts look satisfyingly snug, but not unnaturally tight. Their neat new appearance makes an attractive package. The subtly notched leg hem is a true connoisseur's touch.

Patrick Berglund by Stan of Sweden

Patrick Bergland's handsome, classical body-builder pose contrasts with well-worn gym shorts which hint at the hard work needed to produce such a stunning physique and the earthy qualities of the man within. The low waist, slung below the hips, halfway to his groin, trades in practicality for something sexier. The tucked-up legs accentuate the models thigh's and create radiating crease lines outlining his balls, lifted and divided by the centre seam. A surprisingly daring image for Stan.

Hartell Jukka by Stan of Sweden

 The turned-down waist and tucked in legs of this model's shorts create briefer proportions that leave no doubt about the erotic intent. Typically, Stan captures a nervous glance to one side, as if he is embarrassed to be seen making such a daring display of himself. His relatively ordinary, slightly boyish face somehow makes it seem out of character. He leans back against a reassuring pillar in contrived nonchalance, perhaps not realising quite how much his groin is pushed forwards.

Stan has shaped the model's tackle here more in the style of Scott, it's prominent but less explicit in shape (at first sight). The tight centre seam has been pulled right up into the model's groin pushing the dangling assembly to one side where the shadowed outline of his cock can be made out, curving down in front of his balls.

Sture by Stan of Sweden

Stan has also cajoled this model into a forward-thrusting pose, with hands clasped behind leaving no hiding place, not even a prop to hang on to. There's an endearing look of uncertainty in his face, a nervous smile struggling to overcome his embarrassment and the loneliness of standing naked and provocative before the camera. 

His shorts look as if they might be the same ones Bo Johansson was wearing in the first picture. The cut is already brief enough to discomfort any man accustomed to pants that hang from his waist (as was the norm back then). They are pulled high at the sides, defensively, but the waistline still dips low enough to expose a sizeable tuft of pubic hair. The bulk of the model's tackle is even more anonymous here, but the bulging shapes either side of the centre seam and straining crease lines indicate a substantial presence. A curious haze hints at even naughtier details higher up, deemed not fit for publication.  

Billy by Stan of Sweden

Stan has used the same formula here although Billy's incredible 'cut' musculature makes an extremely effective distraction from matters of sensuality. His facial expression can best be described as wary and challenging, confident of his own attractiveness, but less sure about what the photographer is doing with it. 

This image departs from the white, gym shorts formula, reflecting instead the emergence of bolder male fashions in the sixties which even reached into men's swimwear. Mmmm. These belted shorts emphasised the new, daring low waisted style, offering manly reassurance of protection from marauders and support in an emergency.

The forward thrust of the model here seems much more confident, so Stan's fiddling down below comes as something of a surprise. The tucked-up legs don't quite quite fit the glamourous, aloof aura and the massive frontal bulge seems at variance with the impression of boyish innocence. It invokes feelings of doubt and scepticism battling with optimistic desire in the viewer. A bit too perfect perhaps.

Lennart Svensson by Stan of Sweden

Stan picks up another theme of the 50's/60's, taking a leaf out of John Barrington's book with this image of Lennart Svensson wading in the sea in his jeans. It's probably chilly Baltic waters, hence the model's discomforted look, but the scenario is an admiring echo of Barrington's studies of the young men of the Cote d'Azure, like his images of Yves Grangeat, shot for Royale Studio. 

Tribute to Stan of Sweden - 1

The photographs of Stan of Sweden enjoyed a brief vogue during the flowering of beefcake mags in the 1960's. Like Basil Clavering of Royale Studio, he made much use of everyday clothing which gave his muscular models a sense of place in the everyday world instead of isolating them in some unreachable place reserved for the Gods of Physique. Today he seems largely forgotten, this article pays tribute to his stunning male art.

Bo Johansson by Stan of Sweden

Bo Johansson was one of Stan's most popular models.

Boyish looks, but a stunning bodybuilder's physique.

The cap may have gone out of fashion but not the muscles.

Bo Johansson by Stan of Sweden

Bo's quizzical expression here is priceless.

It makes him look like an innocent young man, up from the country,

uncomfortable at being asked to strike the artificial, body-builder pose.

Hans Brown by Stan of Sweden

 Hans Brown looks away, also as though embarrassed about his muscles being on display.

Perhaps not realising how his rebellious, thumbs-in-pockets pose and indrawn abs

 increases the erotic effect.

These pale jeans were a hallmark of Stan's work, they add a casual, improvised air. 

The loose fit on this model suggest they are not the his own attire.

Kent Strom by Stan of Sweden

In this image the dipping waistline and dramatic lighting became something of a classic.

The open pose (another body-builder standard) seems like an invitation from the darkness.

Stan did not shy away from a hairy torso but made a feature of it. 

The side-ties on the model's trunks are dated but still sexy, just one tug!

Hans Inge by Stan of Sweden

Stan didn't use posing pouches (as far as I know) but did get some of his models naked.

Here again the arty lighting deliberately accentuates the hairy regions,

including the lower abdomen, which was daring for it's time.

Kurt Peters by Stan of Sweden

Stan did not restrict himself to body-builders.

This model has a more 'natural' build, though not lacking a pleasing shape.

His older face, hairiness and seaman's tattoos suggest ruggedness and experience.

The clean look of his jeans, though drawn tight, seems reassuringly respectable*.

One of my personal favourites

(*But we should remember that in the 1960's, jeans were far from universal wear, their tight sexiness was solely the province of the rebellious young. The white or pale blue variants did not accentuate wear and sexy creases like the indigo ones did, but were regarded as daring and very showy in a way that was rather disreputable for a man)

Niels Anton by Stan of Sweden

This looks like a tough, working man too, although he's more muscularly built.

The ice hook adds an overt edge, which is unusual in Stan's work. 

The pale jeans have been swapped for a corduroy pair (alluringly tactile in their day). 

The tight fit suggests they might be the model's own clothes.

The waistline abruptly interrupts the line of the model's torso, bluntly obscuring his nakedness. 

But the cut-off across the line of his abs is teasing, with a hint of pubic hair escaping.

Lower down, the opening of his crotch is clearly visible below a modest bulge.

Niels Anton by Stan of Sweden

In this image the naked torso seems a more natural complement to the jeans.

They showcase his manly, broad-shouldered physique. 

His slightly youthful face with aspirational 'tache-let and knowingly coiffured hair

is a marvellous portrait of emerging manhood.

However, his open crotch, the shape of the hook and the way he is holding it 

creates a electric erotic undercurrent which is hard to define but unmistakeable.

Notice the hair showing under his arm-pit.

Sivert Olsen by Stan of Sweden

The frightened expression of this young bodybuilder performing a side pose under harsh lighting makes a thought-provoking complement to Niels Anton's scary hook above. Stan had a talent for capturing the uncertainty of young men.

Stan took many conventional images of body-builders posing in competitions, which is no doubt how he won their confidence and was able to persuade them to pose 'out of their trunks' for more interesting imagery. There's an impression here that Sivert is in the process of loosening his side-ties and about to take his trunks off, but Stan usually wanted these muscular models to put clothes on for his photos.

Bo Johansson by Stan of Sweden

In this image Stan catches Bo Johansson in a pose that is the epitome of awkward, uncertainty.

The model seems to be pouting in irritation and frustration,

but he's unwittingly showing his obedience to Stan's wishes.

This isn't a body-builder's pose, there's a hint of captivity about it.

Sven Eric by Stan of Sweden.

Stan seems to have a trick for drawing out the hairiness of a man's body, an oil or water spray perhaps. 

Maybe that is responsible for Sven Erick's expression of saintly patience and forbearance here.

Coupled with the oversize jeans, it creates an impression of him being manipulated and controlled.

That is the true reality, but the gay viewer can vicariously enjoy the illusion of submissivness.

Tord Eric by Sven of Sweden

Stan's male imagery is sexily unique in many ways, but he joins the beefcake mainstream 

with this image of Tord Eric in a US Navy cap, AMG-style.

However the sweeping dip of the model's trunks creates a stronger image than a pouch would.

The original image may have given a better idea of it's contents!

In Part 2, I look at his images which echo themes from other photographers.

Sailors Duped

A sailor on shore leave takes his buddy to beauty spot he knows,
A cruisy place where they can just relax together as friends.
But it's changed a bit since he was last there, not much cruising going on

But there are lots of new facilities to take advantage of.

 

1

       

2

The Navy sent out a Patrol to find the two AWOL sailors,

but in the end the ship had to sail without them.

By that time the boys were miles away.

Still catching the rays together in their free, sun-bathing pouches 

But hard at work, shifting stones in a quarry.

~

The original photo is by AMG of course, 

the guy on the left looks like Dick Dubois....? 

James Seely Naked

In this series of articles featuring James Seely (see foot of post), I've posted numerous images of him in which he is genuinely naked (despite the restrictions of the 1960's) , but none of them are frontal nudes, which were considered to be indecent. The 'shower post' illustrated how clumsy and contrived some of the cover-ups were to comply with this ban. 

This picture of James Seely totally nude is attributed to Denny Denfield by Tim in Vermont. Apparently he photographed models as a hobby but did not sell the pictures. He lived in San Francisco and knew Bob Mizer which is perhaps how he came into contact with James. However, I confess I know very little else about him or any other images of James taken by him.

1

Looking at this image of James today it's hard to comprehend what all the fuss was about. It shows a beautiful physique and although he looks very attractive 'out of pouch' it barely qualifies as erotic. Very close to the ideal of ancient Greek statues. I suppose the oily sheen on his physique might be thought dubious, but it was then, and still is, a standard device used by body builders to highlight their muscle development to contest judges. 

Later on, in the 70's, Mike Arlen would anoint his model's cocks with oil as well as their bodies

and produced spectacularly sexy results never seen before.

2

This photographer has taken pains to ensure that Seely does not look aroused, which would have made the picture not just indecent, but pornographic. Similarly James' facial expression, which is often entertainingly animated in other images, is sober and serious here allowing a claim to be made that the image is purely artistic (which is what the column is there for of course).

It's not surprising to discover that, faced with a naked model, photographers took frontal nude shots of them (which was not of itself illegal). However, the photos could not legally be sold or sent through the postal system. Photographers had to resort to coded advertisements and catalogues and post the pictures to buyers in plain envelopes, hoping that the postal authorities would not intercept them. Unfortunately, photographs require stiffened envelopes and were quite often spotted, inspected and the contents confiscated. It's clear though that much of the material did get through, the Post Office couldn't open every envelope and no doubt there were plenty of postal workers who ignored them.

3

Here James poses with another lusciously muscled man who I have not yet identified (info welcome)

Any gay man would see the eroticism simmering in this coupling, but the photographer has pre-empted accusations of smut by placing the models either side of the same pseudo-classical column seen in 1 above. It's effect is rather like the pillow down the centre of the bed, supposedly used by Hollywood film makers to legitimise putting movie stars in bed together. 

Nevertheless, the models' hands are tantalisingly close together on top of the column, and the fingers of James' partner (both hands) look as if they are itching to get up to mischief. In fact, you might have taken the model's facial expressions to indicate that they just have. Fortunately all is calm down below. 

Purveyors of nude images presumably took precautions to prevent intercepted images being traced back to them and recipients sometimes took elaborate precautions like using Post Office boxes and Post Restante to prevent their addresses being discovered by the authorities on envelopes and mailing lists (and also to hide the material from their wives and other people they lived with). Police in the UK went out of their way to expose gay men to their relatives and employers, ruining many lives. Not all gay men lived in fear though, if you lived your life openly the risk of fines was worth running.  

 

4

 With the models down on one knee the separating effect of the column is increased, allowing the models to face each other, but not look at each other. To the knowing eye, though, the phallic connotations of the column itself are clear enough.

5

In this image, a low, tin box has replaced the column but the raised knees of the models continue to shield their nether regions from each other. However, they also open up their stances and it almost seems like there is a 'musical chairs' style race to clamber on top of the box. Both men seem to be struggling to keep a straight face

~

Apart from Denfield, James Seely only seems to have posed for Kris of Chicago and Bob Mizer and I believe the photographer who took these black and white images was Kris. Kris didn't go in for Greek Columns very much but a very similar object can be seen in the catalogue page shown below (in No 7). A drum-sized version, painted black, also appears in several of his images.

In addition to this match, the original of one of the nude images above (No 2) has the inscription 'R-27' on it and you can see above that this is how Kris numbered his sets in his catalogue.

~

 The James Seely series:

The Abandoned Slave

Vintage Bondage - James Seely

James Seely meets some Naked Men

James bags John in the shower

James Seely bags John in the shower

In the previous installment of the James Seely saga, we saw him studiously ignoring John Manning's lustful looks in a dual posing session. This is what happened afterwards, sort of, in the shower. It provides two more examples of Seely's amazingly wide range of facial expressions.

Back in the bad old days, solo shower scenes were a standard part of the physique photo offering. They offered a thrilling glimpse into the private and intimate cleansing rituals of the studio's male pin-ups. Provided they were photographed with discretion, they also allowed publishers to gush about the cleanliness of their models and the healthy nature of sport of body-building which provided muscular models and a sheen of respectability for their subversive skin-pix. 

Sportsmen routinely showered together in real life of course (and sometimes workers did too if they had dirty jobs like miners). Nevertheless, squeezing two naked men into a tiny cubicle intended for one was not regarded as at all normal......

James Seely and John Manning - Sharing

Bob Mizer concocts an excuse for James Seely to get into the shower with John Manning after their exertions in front of the camera, it's in order to help him wash that tiny area between the shoulder blades that most of us cannot reach ourselves (just ask Siegfried!). Just in case you might suspect that there's something else going on here, James' arms (but nothing else) are smothered in nice, clean, soap suds. A teasing, bubbly trickle runs down over Manning's buttock.

John's serious face is probably meant to suggest he's giving directions to his helper, like someone having an itch scratched. But there's an element of distaste his look as though Seely's arrival is unexpected and unwelcome. I suppose this might be a deliberate, mocking attempt by Mizer to cast Manning as a straight man in a sudden onset of homosexual panic (see Holzman 'Merchant Navy').

Seely's cheerful grin looks nervous and mischievous as though he's planning a surprise. Darker sceptics amongst you might wonder (perhaps like John) whether his clenched right hand is actually holding any soap and even if it is, what is he thinking of doing with it next?   

James Seely and John Manning - Careless Hands

Seely's plan (whatever it was) has turned into a disaster it seems. (Apart from my frivolous, sex-obsessed inventions, he may have treated Manning as gay man when he isn't or as being receptive when isn't!). . Manning looks both shocked and very fearful. He melodramatically raises a defensive, clenched fist. His fist is about shock, anger and latent aggression, not fetish sex, sorry!

I'm not sure there's an English  word for Seely's expression here but it's absolutely priceless. It's the combination of realising he's blundered, profound embarrassment at it and rising panic that he doesn't know how to get out of it. It looks as if he's about to close the shower door so that their mutual embarrassment is no longer on public display, but blockading the two of them inside together doesn't seem like a very good solution in the circumstances (particularly if my interpretation is right!). 

In the midst of this furore, both men desperately try to hold their modesty flannels in place*

*The device of models draping a wet flannel over their private parts was intended to make these images decent in the eyes of the authorities. It would be surprising if it worked. because although you can't see any naughty bits (apart from a cunning glimpse of Seely's crotch hair that looks very sexy indeed), the sheer artifice and flimsiness of the arrangement draws attention to the fact that these two men are naked together in this confined space and could drop their guard at any minute and initiate an indecent, homosexual coupling. Indeed they might well have done so and publishing this picture is telling other deviants that they got away with it. Later, Champion Studio, who also used shower scenes, converted the dangling flannel into a posing pouch which was either brilliant satire or a particularly weird example of lateral thinking.

~  

 This No 34 in 'The Look' series at mitchmen blog,
click on the label at the foot of this post to view the others

or use the mitchmen search function (top right in sidebar)

~

The James Seely series so far:

The Abandoned Slave

Vintage Bondage - James Seely

James Seely meets Naked Men

next post: James Seely Nude