John Davidson

Check out this great site with blogs - especially this one regarding John Davidson with two videos!

https://www.adonismale.com/blogs/entry/4166-john-davidson/

Thank You

 This month has seen an explosion of subscribers to my YouTube channel, so I am most grateful!  One book - the Pat Milo rarity attracted like-minded people that enjoy physique material.

An Exciting Find

 I was doing some research into gay news magazine and found this site:

https://www.houstonlgbthistory.org

Full issues have been scanned in and it is a treasure trove of history.  One particularly fun publication is the Gay Coloring Book.  The site is a bit hard to navigate but quite fun.

45 Photos from Bob Mizer's Physique Pictorial - Article from Gayety

 

45 Photos

New AMG Photos

 Here are four new ones I've obtained.

Two unknown models - the first has a great body and the pose with the dagger is something else.  Not the most handsome face.  Below is an excellent example of Bob using glass to get those lovely background lighting effects.  Excellent pose and overall composition.  A real treasure!

An odd pose for AMG.  Love the sailor's cap and below, this one didn't develop very well, but was a good composition regardless.  Both models are unknown.

Tony Sansone - The Birth of the Beefcake Model

 Tony Sansone (1905-1987) had the looks and an amazing physique that he didn't mind showing off.  His two books of poses, photographed by Edwin Townsend, mentions the poses are meant for study and for art.  Just as when Bob Mizer started out with AMG, the essential guise was for healthy and the study of perfection in male form.  

  Although the 30's were quite different than the 50's and 60's, I am sure Sansone had his share of fanatic male admirers.  My personal thoughts are that he enjoyed the attention.  He didn't mind being photographed by a man (even though male photographers were more common).  

 

https://www.sandowplus.co.uk/Competition/Sansone/sansone.html 

https://gregorytaper.com/tag/tony-sansone/

https://www.wikizero.com/www/Tony_Sansone

 

Modern Classics, self-published, 1932.

Rhythm, self-published, 1935.

Apollo, Adonis and You (brochure).

Progressive Home Physical Training, self-published, 1936.

Nūdleafs, self-published, 1937.

American Adonis:  Tondy Sansone, the First Male Physique Idol by Johne Massey, Universe Publishing, 2004.

November 4th - Robert Mapplethorpe's Birthday

 

A great Tate article on Mapplethorpe:

https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/robert-mapplethorpe-11413/photographs-robert-mapplethorpe

Men and Art, Vol 1 - Lon of New York - PDF

 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WIYHsv043ZEV8RbnWEchgutdowc0fokS/view?usp=sharing

 

 

Fun Sparticus Paper Doll

 From AMG!  Right click to view and print full-sized.  I believe this was distributed in the 60's.

That AMG Feeling!

 I'm always on the lookout for new Bob Mizer/Athletic Models Guild memorabilia, which for me, has consisted of Physique Pictorials and original photo prints that could be ordered while the magazine was in print.  Yesterday I bought a lot of 71 issues of PP, some of which I already have and some I don't.  It is getting harder and harder to locate specific issues, especially those of the 50's.  I'm excited to get lot and go through them!

Lots of Pictures - Blog

 

 Mike has had this blog for a while, though no longer updated, it has a ton of pictures that are always great to look at.  Check it out!

https://malemodelsvintagebeefcake.blogspot.com/ 

 

 

Bob Delmonteque

 Bob Delmonteque - the famous health and fitness guy.  This is quite possibly my favorite of his pictures.  From my personal collection.

The Beautiful Mr. Bishop

Clifford Oettinger Photos from the Saugatuk Beach State Park series - 1955, all from my personal collection.

 

Unseen Bidgood Exhibition!

 https://www.anothermag.com/art-photography/14356/unseen-james-bidgood-photographs-memorial-exhibition-clamp

 

 

Bruce of Los Angeles - a bit from my collection

 

Queer Coding in Art

 A lovely little video from the National Galleries of Scotland and Heehaw:

 

Mizer and Physique Pictorial inflenced thesis

 Erotic Positions for Two Consenting Males

I cam across this artist from New Zealand and his thesis which you can access above.  It is great to see queer, unabashed artists influenced by the past.  Below is a painting by Robbie Handcock from an NZ gallery.

Indecent Literature (detail) 

Urinal My Dreams is an exhibition of paintings and prints by artist Robbie Handcock dealing with representations of gay male sexuality. Utilising playful colour and a haste painterliness, vulgarity and tastefulness come together to ask questions about queerness and domesticity. Here, sexual fetish is reframed by reference to the home, treating unusual pleasures with the same mundanity as going to the toilet - from www.thebigidea.nz

Items from Bruce of LA

Bruce Bellas (1909 - 1974) aka Bruce of Los Angeles

I have a few lovely pictures from Bruce - the two types I've noticed are the fancy script stamp, "Bruce" and the plain Bruce of Los Angeles stamp on earlier ones.  Here are two I own that are lovely when examined closer.  The models names, I have yet to discover unless I failed to note it from the back.

 

Popular 30's, 40's and 50's poses toyed with the notion of Greek/Roman perfection and played on that trope.  Physique models took cues from bodybuilder poses and heterosexual men were easily duped into shedding clothing to show off their hard work.   

 

This photo of a faux fencing pose is an early example of a fully nude model without the genitals on display.  Notice in each of these poses, arms and legs are not hidden and the pose is deliberately instructed and captured.  

See my video flipping through the American Photography of the Male Nude - the first volume featuring some amazing models.  Other than this book, there is the Inside/Outside monograph that is probably the best coffee table book on the photographs.  They did a great job with that one!  The various physique mags that Bruce put out are highly collectable and usually go for $45 on up on eBay.

Selected Links:

The Man Who Pioneered Beefcake Photography

The Band of Brothers who Risked it all for Male Erotica

Welcome!

 Welcome!  

Let's kick this off with an image I had never seen before that I recently acquired.  It's attributed to Irv Johnson and is of Glenn Bishop - an early image to be certain!  Glenn was into bodybuilding in high school, was a life guard and was into a few sports, including gymnastics and swimming.  The date that this was taken is up for debate but most likely from the early 50's.  

I've collected a few things dealing with Glenn, including a rare poster-sized photo from the Michigan state park series as well as five other 11x17 photos from that shoot from Clifford Oettinger.  

This makes me think what started me into collecting physique material.  I collected nude male photography books for a bit and am a Robert Mapplethorpe fan (Just Kids by Patti Smith is an amazing book).  

I bought a few Physique Pictorials on eBay and that started my interest in Bob Mizer.  I'll talk more about that later.  Enjoy this rare and hairless Glenn.