The Art of George Quaintance

George Quaintance (June 3, 1902 – November 8, 1957) was an American artist, famous for his “idealized, strongly homoerotic depictions of men in mid-20th-century physique magazines. Using historical settings to justify the nudity or distance the subjects from modern society, his art featured idealized muscular, semi-nude or nude male figures; Wild West settings were a common motif. His artwork helped establish the stereotype of the “macho stud” who was also homosexual. He was an influence on many later homoerotic artists, such as Tom of Finland.

Quaintance, who died in 1957, lived and worked during an era when homosexuality was repressed, when his joyful paintings and physique photos could not depict a penis. In an era before Stonewall, the sexual revolution, gay rights and the AIDS crisis, Quaintance and his high-camp erotic art existed in a demi-monde of borderline legality.

Half a century on, the masculine fantasy world created by Quaintance, populated by Latin lovers, lusty cowboys and chiseled ranch hands, retains its seductive allure. His highly prized paintings—numbering just 55—rarely come to auction, instead selling privately for undisclosed sums. As the preeminent ‘male physique’ artist of the 1940s and early ’50s, his work for Physique Pictorial, Demi-Gods and Body Beautiful inspired a generation of artists like Tom of Finland, Harry Bush, Etienne, and other, lesser stars in their constellation.

TASCHEN’s Quaintance traces his remarkable life story and reintroduces his colorful, kitschy and culturally resonant paintings—works that made George Quaintance the most popular and successful physique artist of his time, and one of its most intriguing figures. A must have Coffee Table book.

Young Stallion

Young Stallion II

After the Storm

Roman Column

Swimming in the Reef

Happy New Year

Happy New Year

Repost from Last Xmas

Repost from Last Xmas

This past Christmas I was accused of persecuting christians again on Facebook because I posted a little ditty “Help keep the X in Xmas! My response last year still stands! Frack’m if they can’t take a joke!

From Daily Beast

The only thing the Republicans are ready to play, as usual, is roulette, with the cocked gun against the country’s temple, unfortunately, and not their own. It’s worth taking a moment in this context to consider: Never have the priorities for survival and success of a major party’s Washington politicians been so utterly at odds with the priorities required for the country’s survival and success. These Washington Republicans represent the one-third of the country that hates government, despises Obama, and considers obstruction victory.

 

Why Republicans are Morons – part 2

Not content with merely waging war on women, Republicans are targeting another enemy of conservatism: education. It appears that the leading elements of the Republican Party truly believe that not only is ignorance bliss, but also blessed. In the class rooms they want  replace critical thinking and evidence base science with the mythology of the bible and “creation science”. In Tennessee this past cycle, a new statute encourages teachers to express skepticism toward,  “scientific subjects, including, but not limited to, biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, and global warming”.

They are still fighting the Scopes Trial and the civil War there and very sensitive to any science that would have blacks and white descending from the same root. Tennessee believes that the blacks were created that way to be slaves and used that justification to fight for god in the Civil War.

Slavery is not an institution that developed itself. Many people used the Bible as their justification of slavery. In the book of Genesis, chapter 9, Noah ‘s youngest son Ham saw the nakedness of his father and did not covered him. It was his brothers who covered him. Noah then cursed Ham to be a servant to his brothers forever, Genesis 9:25-26 “Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers”. This is known to be the first act of slavery that people argue is sanctioned by God. Many interpret Ham’s curse as placed upon people of darker skin color, Africans more specifically. Some use the phrase “Mark of Canna.” The argument is that since Ham’s descendants were to be slaves forever and Africans were already slaves and inferior then they should remain in slavery. Visit http://www.religioustolerance.org/sla_bibl.htm to learn more about Ham’s curse and Biblical references to slavery.

Slaveholders justified the practice by citing the Bible,

They asked who could question the Word of God when it said, “slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling” (Ephesians 6:5), or “tell slaves to be submissive to their masters and to give satisfaction in every respect” (Titus 2:9).

That is why the R’s push to have the Bible taught in schools.  They think it is better to hear it taught from “people of authority” rather than parents or religious people. In order to sustain Christianity, at least their type of it, you need people to not think critically or ask probing questions. More important you need people who can ignore science and accept the absurd as truth.

Faith becomes more important than truth and every question has a true or false answer. That is why they push for standardized testing that reinforces the idea that there is an answer to every question already. Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma likes to shout, “Global warming is a hoax”. He’s a US senator rolling in cash courtesy of oil and gas corporations. This somehow qualifies him to say that while 97% of climate scientists accept anthropogenic climate change, that “doesn’t mean anything”. His peer-reviewed journal of choice is the Bible: “Genesis 8:22: ‘as long as the earth remains there will be springtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, day and night’. My point is, God’s still up there. The arrogance of people to think that we, human beings, would be able to change what He is doing in the climate is to me outrageous.”

The republicans need stupid people to exist as a party and in America they are home to 49% of the voters.

Swimming

Can’t wait for summer (or Belize) to go swimming again. Print by George Quaintance (1902-1957)

Glen Bishop

Glen Bishop was a Beefcake model in the early 1960’s and posed in for all the major gay  photographers in LA and NY. Although he was rumored to be hetrosexual this did nothing to diminish his standing as the leader of gay themed erotica. He is a sampling of some of his physique modeling.

Pose Please by phheww

Glenn Bishop

Pose Please by phheww

 

I’ve Lost Three Months

I’ve lost three months of my life recently to Pristiq. Pristiq is an antidepressant that I started and from the very beginning I felt it was wrong. I lost interest in reading and writing. I lost interest in weight training and sex.  I lost three months. I knew I wanted off the drug but every web site I visited talked about listed testimonials of people who various reasons (lost insurance leading the way) have had to go cold turkey of the drug. People complain of Massive headaches and nausea and light-headedness. All of which I have experienced to one degree or another. None to an extreme or uncomfortable level.

This past week when I went to refill my prescription, I lost the new bottle. Faced with going out of pocket or cold turkey I figured I would try going, over Christmas, cold turkey without my Pristiq (I am still on Abilify). As I say So far the only thing I have noticed is last night I read 4 chapters in a new book. The Last Werewolf. While on Pristiq I was unable to read an entire page from that book. I am now driven to get back into the gym and last night took a long walk with the dogs and Ed after dinner instead of napping. I am relived to be back in sorts to a large degree. I still won’t watch the hallmark channel yet. Why ask for depression or tears. I do, for the first time in months feel in control. Something I have not felt in months.

Is that the goal of the mental health professionals, to give people socially acceptable ways of feeling numb? I thought it was to develop the tools to maintain control. I’ll keep my therapist but I am dropping my pill pusher psychologist. I want to develop my own tools for handling my life and life experiences. I don’t want to feel dead.

America’s Greatest!

Classic Locker Rooms

There was a time when the body was not something to be ashamed of. Before the avant of fast food and no PE classes. Correlation?