The images of Les Demi Dieux are remarkable for being a precursor of
later "artistic nudes" but still having a distinct look. Unlike most
such work, the darkroom skills of Les Demi Dieux are very strong, &
there is more attention to overall composition. Les Demi Dieux worked
with well-known physique models such as Richard Bennett, as well as alot
of local Brooklyn boys with greaser haircuts. As a point of curiosity,
the few images which are signed, are signed by the models rather than
the elusive Les Demi Dieux. & he had no blindstamp either, as far as
I can tell. The most remarkable images are of shirtless or nearly
shirtless boys on the streets of Brooklyn - the Brooklyn in these photos
is an empty city. Unlike classic physique images which catalogue gym
work - measurements, body mass, in conventionalized poses, the Brooklyn
boys look like dreamers in an abandoned city - there is a palpable
romanticism. Male physique photography exists on a periphery of other
histories. Figure studies date from the early period of photography,
such as images by Eugene Durieu made for the painter Eugene Delacroix.
Looking beyond the lurid advertisements of Muscle & Fitness, there
existed in this realm of men looking at men, a cottage industry of
images circulated after WWII, through the 1970s, which although
seemingly simply extolling the All-American Boy, were meant for a
specifically gay audience, or to use a term Gore Vidal coined,
"homosexualist". This was a pre-Stonewall gay audience. For example, Bob
Mizer, AMG photographer & publisher of Physique Pictorial which was
produced in his mother's house in Los Angeles, would bring an array of
his pets including a monkey & a goat into images, he would clothe
the models as motorcyclists, prisoners, mechanics, sailors, Indians -
his imagination was quite fertile & those who would be looking for
"those types" of images would see "it" loud and clear. & I would
point out a brilliant bit of DIY set-building of Mizer's: projecting
lights through his mother's cut glass bowls to create artistic backdrops
for his models. There were physique studios across the US: The Athletic
Model Guild (Bob Mizer), Bruce Bellas first an itenerant photographer
of the naked heartland then later Kensington Road of Los Angeles, Lon of
New York, Douglas of Detroit, David of Cleveland. Some models became
entrepreneurs of their images as well, such as Bob Delmonteque.
Fitzgerald operated studio Les Demi Dieux from his home in Carroll
Gardens, Brooklyn NYC with his partner, muse and model Richard Bennett +
local friends Robert Ruy, Nestor Derkach, Orest Daszo, Jerry Albanese,
Vince Perri et al. He considered his models demi-gods: sublime, muscled
beauties on the streets of Brooklyn, beaches of New Jersey, the woods of
Pennsylvania. Les Demi-Dieux has long been considered one of the most
artistic and certainly the most mysterious of the classic physique
photographers. Only recently identified as Danny Fitzgerald, there is
still very little known about his life. In the flesh, the Brooklyn boys
were members of street gangs: greasers smoldering with bravado and
swagger.
They play cards, smoke cigarettes, and slouch against their Buick or
Chevy. Occasionally photographed in his studio; elegant, sensual nudes.
The Brooklyn boys exist on a cusp between innocence and street savvy,
boyhood and manhood, mortality and eternity. In a style redolent with
both classicism and realism, Fitzgeralds gritty yet gorgeous nudes
surpass the clichés of standard beefcake photography. Fitzgerald began
photographing the young men he met at Abe Goldbergs gym in the Lower
East Side neighborhood of Manhattan - working-class guys 20 years his
junior.
Later, he and Bennett recruited their subjects on the
streets of Brooklyn using Bennetts gregarious personality and
bodybuilder physique as bait. Fitzgeralds knowledge of art and culture
and unwavering encouragement of physical beauty sealed the deal. Die
Fotografien von Danny Fitzgerald sind ein unentdeckter Schatz, denn er
gehört wahrlich zu den großen Fotografen des 20. Brooklyn Boys führt zum
ersten Mal seit der Entstehung seiner Fotos in den 50er und 60er Jahren
sein Werk in einem Umfang zusammen, der die ungeheure Intensität seiner
Bilder vor Augen führt. Its price will continue to appreciate as this
is out of print and collectible thus.
Berlin, Bruno Gmünder Verlang, 2013. Grand in-4 carré, np., cartonnage éditeur illustré. / Tall square 4to, original pictorial cloth with dustclear mylar wrapper. Première monographie complète de Danny Fitzgeral, plus de 160 photographies en noir et en couleurs. Épuisé et recherché. Etat neuf. / Very first comprehensive monograph of Danny Fitzgerald's word, over 160 photographs (colours and b/w). Out of print and scarce. As new.* Voir photographie(s) / See the picture(s). Etude academique, en plein air male nudes in nature, both black and
white and color. Fitzgerald portraits appeared regularly in
pre-Stonewall publications as Young Physique, Muscles a Go-Go, Demi Gods
and Era. His work dropped out of view until re discovered by
Loncar/Kempster 9783867876322.
COMBINED SHIPPING DISCOUNT, photographs books magazines added at a reduced rate
We carry those that we ourselves like and believe in
-- that we think will excite, enchant, and endure.
Original, collectible vintage photographs, unique books of photography and
infamous photographers, and rare Magazines of the era; Heartland
vernacular and Antique originals
Physique notables: Thor, Rex werk Rexwerk Verboten,
John Burton JB Harter, Delmas Howe, Jon
Arnt, Joe Weber, Herbert List, Western Photography Guild Don
Whitman WPG Denver Colorado, Kurt Dietrich Dietrick Kensington Rd
Bruce Bellas of LA, Gregor Arax Paris France, John Paignton
Shipley Barrington London England, Jim French polaroid arion
Luger Colt Studio Canal St NY Los Angeles, Lou Thomas Target
Studio, Lon Alonzo Hanagan New York, Douglas Juleff Detroit,
Spartan Constantine, Denny Denfield, Fred Kovert Hollywood,
Walter Kundzicz Champion Studio Waljim Take One Sunshine Beach Club
Master Physique THEM reidmeier riedmeier, Reed Massengill, Dave
Martin, John Waters David Hurles San Francisco Old Reliable, DSI,
Guild Press PNC Dr Lynn Womack Washington DC, Pat Milo, Bob
Mizer Athletic Model Guild AMG Physique Pictorial, Cliff
Oettinger, Michigan Models Glenn Bishop, Al Urban, J Brian
Donahue Calafran Bob Damron, Tony Lanza, Third World Studio,
Chicago Jim Jager Mr Big Long, Sierra Domino Craig Calvin
Anderson, Basil Clavering Hussar, Foto Grafo, Mike Arlen Wetherby
UK, Mel Roberts, Neil Edwards, Troy Saxon Stuart Pinky Rosenberg,
Bobco, Pat Rocco, Cusido, RMX Richard Models Vetruvian Sennels
Lyric, Gerhardt Liebmann, Tony Patrioli Italy,
Eadweard Muybridge, Paul Cadmus, Jared French Lincoln Kirstein
George Platt Lynes, Will McBride, Henry Tuke, Luke Smalley, Joel
Peter Witkin, Terry Richardson, Michael Stokes invictus, beaumen
beau Wouter Deruytter, Gaetano D'Agata, Pluschow, Von Gloeden,
Vincenzo Galdi, Eugen Sandow, Achille Volpe, Rudolph Koppitz,
Raymond Voinquel, Forbes, Thomas Eakins, Czanara Raymond
Carrance, Desbonnet, Duane Michals, Sherwin Carlquist, Arundel
Holmes Nicholls, Edwin Townsend, Charles Alphonse Marle, John
Max Hernic, Leni Riefenstahl, Fred Holland Day, Crawford
Barton, Daniel Nicoletta, Weegee Arthur Fellig, Malcolm Boyd,
Siegmund sig Klein, NacktKultur Swiss Nudes Werner Bandi Der
Kreis the Circle fkk Hans Suren Gerhard Riebicke, George
Haimsohn Plato Anthony Tony Guyther Vulcan Capital, Islay Lyons
Mark Slocum Edwinstone Fred Bisonnes Dennis Forbes, Mans Image
Toby Ross John Gable, Dallesandro, Ohm Phanphiroj, Alvin Baltrop, Duncan Grant, Laure Albin
Guillot, Roger Viollet, Hippolyte Bayard, Marconi, Frank Collier
DeZine Artkraft, Les Demi Dieux Danny Fitzgerald, William
Sayles Doan photoflexion, Chuck Renslow Kris Chicago Dom Stephen
Etienne, Art of George Quaintance Harry Bush hard boys, Tom
Bianchi nyc fire island, Vince Aletti, Klaus Kertess Peter Hujar
David Wojnarowicz Robert W Richards Stroke Allure Hunter O'Hanian,
Wessel O'Connor, Guy Burch, Bill Ward UK Otto Rieth Max Koch der
Akt act Freilicht, Boris Lurie Habana Havana Cuba, William Gedney,
Arthur Leipzig Brooklyn boys, Lehnert Landrock tunis, Stephane
Gizard France, Julien Marinetti, Lowell Nesbitt, Mike Disfarmer,
Norman Mauskopf, Barthe, Carl Van Vechten Harlem Renaissance, Michael
Leonard, KarlHeinz Weinberger, Banksy Basquiat Warhol xxl Haring, Colt Album, Tom Album Barrington
The
seeds of the Leslie/Lohman Gay Art Foundation were planted in 1968 when
Fritz Lohman and Charles Leslie held a gallery show of gay erotic art
in their Soho loft. In 1990 they became a foundation dedicated to
preserving art which many in the art world used to destroy. Ed Cervone's
"Three Sailor's". Or perhaps Patrick Angus' Hanky Panky - set in an
adult movie house. Darold Perkins has taken an Arrow Shirt ad and
turned it into an ad instead. Next in the Drawings and Prints category
we particularly love Paul Cadmus; the explicit Andy Warhol drawings --
he wasn't Tom of Finland.... but much more than Campbell's Tomato Soup
We offer modern firsts, original photography, the arts, and gay erotica. You
will also find a fine selection of signed copies, limited editions, ephemera and
memorabilia because the goal is to deepen the pleasure of
collecting.
usps has raised rates approx 40% as has ebay managed payments thus rates are net cost not profit