Gay Art: A Historic Collection

John Stanley is a senior policy advisor in the Corporate Policy Branch
Management Board Secretariat, Government of Ontario. He is co-editor of
Nation and History: Polish Historians from the Enlightenment to the
Second World War.

Gay Art is a reworking of A History Collection of Gay Art by Falkon (a
pseudonym), which was published in New York in 1972. Concordia
University’s Tom Waugh, who edited this new version with Falkon’s
co-operation, deems the original collection as “the ur-text of gay
graphic smut.” He is no doubt correct.

Falkon’s thesis is that homoerotic art work has its origins in
Greco-Roman traditions and that it fits within the realm of Art.
Regardless of the thesis, the original publication offered its public
explicit pen-and-pencil illustrations of male homosexual acts, ensuring
its success. Most of the art in the book was from Falkon’s personal
collection, nearly all made between the 1940s and 1970.

After a historical overview of male homosexuality in art, short
chapters are devoted to seven then-contemporary artists and to themes
(musclemen, youth, sexual acts, sado-masochism, humour). Few of these
artists had professional training and none could make a living from
these works. Waugh has tried to discover the real names behind the
pseudonyms and to update the work. He also modified some footnotes and
added others. The text has not been altered, but the reproductions now
come with Waugh’s captions.

Some works could not be reproduced for this edition. Tom of Finland’s
executors refused permission to reproduce more than half of his works
originally provided. Other works were considered too sensitive for their
intergenerational sex; they were not eliminated but they were cropped,
sometimes severely.

This volume is unlikely to have the same appeal as the original work
(in the Internet era, these drawings are unlikely to stimulate users as
they once did). However, the new edition is worth perusing for what it
tells of an earlier era’s depiction of sexuality and masculinity.
Waugh considers his reworking “an act of historical salvage,
reappropriation, and celebration.” Those glancing at this volume will
undoubtedly contemplate not only how much has changed but also how much
has not in depicting gay male life.