Naked Men: Pioneering Male Nudes, 1935-1955 - copertina rigida, flessible

The male nude has been a staple of art since the Greeks graced their public buildings with the glorified forms of gods and heroes. Renaissance artists didn't hesitate to display the male form, particularly in churches; the past 100 years of photography have seen a resurgence of the male nude. Nonetheless, until now there's been very little critical analysis of these nudes' homoerotic content. In his Lambda Award-winning Naked Men: Pioneering Male Nudes 1935-1955, David Leddick uses intensive research, interviews, and photographic representations to uncover sources and inspirations for the male nude through 20 years of contemporary art. Relying on the words and visual work of hundreds of artists, models, and writers (including George Platt Lynes, Paul Cadmus, Tennessee Williams, and Gore Vidal), Leddick conjures up the images, history, and social context of the mid-20th-century homoerotic nude. Filled with photos and reproductions, Naked Men shows us how gay sensibilities and gay culture have freed the male body from social restraints in both art and everyday life. Leddick's The Male Nude, while not strictly a companion volume, does similar work, detailing more than a century of male nudes. As with Naked Men, this book is lavishly and beautifully illustrated. Both are important documents of gay male history and culture. --Michael Bronski