Gay Art: A Historic Collection

Felix Lance Falkon's historic collection of Gay Art was the first and only one of its kind when it was first published in 1972. Happily, Falkon is still around to revise and republish his long-lost classic. In this he is ably assisted by art historian Thomas Waugh, who provides invaluable commentary. Thanks to Waugh, we learn the names of some of the artists, who were "closeted" back in 1972. (For example, only now do we learn that some of the art is by Falkon himself.) The only reason I do not give this book 5 stars is because the current political climate has forced the authors to censor some of the art that feature gay youths. What was perfectly acceptable in 1972 is forbidden today. Such is "progress."

Ok

Highly recommended to all art lovers. The themes and layouts are well done. One complaint - at least a few of the artworks could have been printed in colour to enhance the visual appeal of the book. Otherwise a worthy selection of erotic gay art...

Of course it's fun to browse through a variety of vintage gay erotic art. But now, with the internet, we can see much of the same art in color, such as Harry Bush and Quaintance. The author gives himself a prominent place, as if he is on a par with several of the 'great names' - when all he does is TRACE Etienne drawings! But oddest of all are the censored pictures, often reduced to but a tiny fragment, because there were youngsters in them. But that was common in those days before the current scare. Descriptions are often a lot of bla-bla, things we can see for ourselves in the illustrations. The quasi intellectual introduction, with Greek vases is totally out of place. I could say much the same of Out/Lines and Lust Unearthed by Thomas Waugh, with all that self-glorification on their research and expertise... A bit less ego and more uncensored art would have been nice.