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Out/Lines: Gay Underground Erotic Graphics From Before Stonewall
Gay male representation of sexuality has a long history of varied visibility and acceptance, but the 100 or so years of queer life before Stonewall were a period of unprecedented self-identification as well as renewed pressure to hide and suppress the erotic imagery of gay men in western culture. Out/Lines features a resurrection of erotic gay images, once virtually buried and invisible, that circulated in clandestine communities whose sexualized visibility was a potentially devastating risk—a wealth of approximately 200 previously unpublished "obscene" images from the queer pre-Stonewall underground.
Drawn mainly from American, German, Italian, and French sources, these images will both broaden and tantalize our view of queer culture with a surprising range of historical styles and motifs. While many of the artists remain anonymous or unknown, some have begun to have increasing notoriety on the erotic gay market. Works include images from a 1945 booklet of 20 unofficial illustrations for Jean Genet’s Our Lady of the Flowers; the British artist known as "Hank," whose steamy couplets called "Homo Hotel" featured hot, horny sailors and Cliff Richards haircuts; the increasingly well-known American artist Neel Bate, whose nom de crayon was "Blade"; and numerous contemporaries and admirers of the legendary erotic artist Tom of Finland.
Waugh’s narrative considers both fantasy and history by exploring the cultural and erotic dynamics and the social context in which these secret, sexualized images were created and collected. Historically rigorous and aesthetically explicit, Out/Lines is sure to shock and astonish.
Thomas Waugh teaches film studies at Montreal’s Concordia University. He is a critic, public lecturer, and festival programmer, and is the author of Hard to Imagine: Gay Male Eroticism in Photography and Film from their Beginnings to Stonewall.
Drawn mainly from American, German, Italian, and French sources, these images will both broaden and tantalize our view of queer culture with a surprising range of historical styles and motifs. While many of the artists remain anonymous or unknown, some have begun to have increasing notoriety on the erotic gay market. Works include images from a 1945 booklet of 20 unofficial illustrations for Jean Genet’s Our Lady of the Flowers; the British artist known as "Hank," whose steamy couplets called "Homo Hotel" featured hot, horny sailors and Cliff Richards haircuts; the increasingly well-known American artist Neel Bate, whose nom de crayon was "Blade"; and numerous contemporaries and admirers of the legendary erotic artist Tom of Finland.
Waugh’s narrative considers both fantasy and history by exploring the cultural and erotic dynamics and the social context in which these secret, sexualized images were created and collected. Historically rigorous and aesthetically explicit, Out/Lines is sure to shock and astonish.
Thomas Waugh teaches film studies at Montreal’s Concordia University. He is a critic, public lecturer, and festival programmer, and is the author of Hard to Imagine: Gay Male Eroticism in Photography and Film from their Beginnings to Stonewall.
304 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2002
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About the author
Thomas Waugh
38 books24 followersThomas Waugh is Concordia University Research Chair in Sexual Representation and in Documentary in Montreal, Canada. In addition to writing, he loves teaching, programming, swimming, cycling, travelling in India and sweating at Montreal's ninety-year-old community steambath.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 5, 2020
A collection of mostly pre-1970 erotic drawings from Europe and North America of interest to those fascinated with the history and development of m/m sexual portrayals. Or those keen for a bit of vintage smut!
There is a lengthy academic introduction from the editor/cultural historian Thomas Waugh, as well as biographies of the few artists who can be identified. Much is still unknown, and perhaps always will be.
Well-known artists such as Tom of Finland are shown in the context of contemporaneous artists. Tom of Finland was part of a movement, not a complete innovator. This whole scene was underground but quite active. That it was illicit was no doubt part of the appeal.
There is a lengthy academic introduction from the editor/cultural historian Thomas Waugh, as well as biographies of the few artists who can be identified. Much is still unknown, and perhaps always will be.
Well-known artists such as Tom of Finland are shown in the context of contemporaneous artists. Tom of Finland was part of a movement, not a complete innovator. This whole scene was underground but quite active. That it was illicit was no doubt part of the appeal.
May 22, 2024
132,134,151,167,172
January 17, 2025
i mean, i yam what i yam, so... this was a fun, silly, interesting, mildly titillating read.
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April 25, 2009interesting
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews