#artistic nudes

Edoardo before a mock door on an ancient Roman grave, in the impressive ruins of Pompeii. We can see another of Plüschow’s shots in the same location here.

A sheet of male nudes for artists, photographed and published by Louis Jean-Baptiste Igout, circa 1870. We’ve seen several pages from M. Igout before, but none of these seem to be repeated images.

Gracefully posed and charming eroticism at the turn of the last century - titled The Seduction, by Vincenzo Galdi.

Another of the early outdoor photography by Thomas Eakins, the second I’ve posted from this photoshoot featuring his art students bathing (the first can be found here) - I wonder have you all also seen the 1885 oil painting he used these as reference for? http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Swimming_hole.jpg 

A second gorgeous, deeply homoerotic Galdi photograph from a matching pair (perhaps, we might hope, from a larger set with further delights still to be discovered), the first to be seen here. Again one young man of outstanding natural beauty lies in languid abandon, displaying his masculine perfection with a certain shameless confidence, while his more modest companion looks on in quiet admiration.

Three handsome young men pose for Wilhelm von Gloeden in the late 19th Century, their expressions transforming this into something uniquely beautiful, and open to interpretation - innocent platonic affection, or lustful longing? The boy on the left certainly seems to lean toward the latter.

A fine image by Guglielmo Plüschow, once more using the ruins of classical  Rome as the ideal backdrop to timeless male beauty - what an exquisitely formed bottom, perfectly peachy-round and smooth!

I had just begun to consider what I might post to mark our reaching the pleasantly amusing total of 3,333 followers, when there happened a veritable flood of new attention overnight, and I find we now sit at a quite remarkable 3,435 already! So now my intended theme of trio photographs is a little inaccurately placed. Welcome, new readers, nonetheless!

Denis R. with Ted S. by Nickolas Muray. Though this stunningly lovely photograph was taken in 1923, and therefore falls a little outside my self-imposed limit of Great War or earlier, it is absolutely timeless, with nothing to fix it in a more modern era - it does not seem out of place or jarring. 

Another sumptuous photograph by Vincenzo Galdi, always making the extra effort to dress his sets most wonderfully with richly detailed fabrics, furs, and striking foliage behind. Their poses have a charming casual air, here, almost an off-duty moment as they relax before the camera.

This splendid von Gloeden photograph of three lovely Sicilians was a submission from reader Steven’s own art collection, along with the tale of its acquisition and a view of the signature and numbering on the reverse. I am certain you shall all appreciate his generosity as much as I, for it is a fine example of this glorious evocative style.

Four scenes of dramatic action and interaction between nude models, photographed in the 1870s by Louis Jean-Baptiste Igout. These sheets of cheap prints were sold as a simple and affordable reference for artists, more can be found here.

My immediate thought on seeing this von Gloeden photograph, ‘was there not a dog?’ proved right - on investigation I’ve found that there are two very similar pictures : the first here shows a black labrador-type draped sleepily over the rocks, by this second shot he has got up and gone. It is more than editing, as the right-hand model’s head has slightly turned.

 A different set of artists’ reference photographs, donated by Yanni - I’ve featured these photographic compilations before, though these seem to be mostly new poses with only the upper right having appeared on a previous sheet.

Our familiar Roman Sandal Boys again. At first glance I was somewhat confused by the arrangement of arms here as I took both raised hands as belonging to the boy on the right - giving him an unusually flexible forearm, and his companion an alarmingly disembodied hand upon his shoulder! 

Thomas Eakins (left) and John Laurie Wallace, 1883. Pleasantly ordinary-looking gentlemen, both - not perfect boyish youth or highly developed athletic bodies, just average chaps looking very natural and relaxed in front of the camera.

What a beautiful classically-inspired scene from von Gloeden; quite typical of his work, and quite lovely!

Four confident and classically elegant models clasp hands and pose in leafy unspoilt countryside, for the camera of Guglielmo Plüschow around the turn of the last century - could they be the same group seen enjoying a similar setting in thisphotograph?

A skilfully composed garden scene by Wilhelm von Gloeden, taken toward the end of the 19th century at his villa in Taormina, Sicily.

A further page of Louis Jean-Baptiste Igout’s reference photographs for artists, published between 1870 and 1880 by A. Calavas as an affordable and convenient alternative to life models, and especially useful for amateur artists working at home.