When originally published by Greenleaf Editions in 1972, A Historic Collection of Gay Art was the first book of its kind to document expressions of gay male sexuality as depicted in visual art, from antiquity to pop culture. Its frank and unapologetic survey of the pleasures of the flesh was, for gay men, unprecedented, and it remains the starting-point for modern-day discussions of erotic gay male artwork and comics.
This new edition has been updated by the original author, Felix Lance Falkon, and Thomas Waugh, author of the similarly themed bestsellers Out/Lines and Lust Unearthed. It features erotic line drawings and other artwork from ancient Greece to 1970s America, by artists both anonymous and infamous (including Tom of Finland, Graewolf, Blade, and Aubrey Beardsley), as well as an insightful narrative that provides a fascinating historical context for these images, including their production and dissemination.
Gay Art also provides a modern-day discussion about pleasure and permission: questions about how we define erotic imagery and what we should and should not be allowed to see. Subversive, smart, and sexy, Gay Art takes erotic images from the past out of the closet and into the light of present day.
