Quaintance thought so too, because those were the first two canvases of his "Male Physique" period that he chose to reproduce as color lithographs.  He had always sold 8x10 black and white photos of his canvases to a public that had an unquenchable thirst for them — his mailing list was said to number over 10,000 names. Later, acceding to the demand for color reproductions, he began to sell color chromes, or slides, of the paintings. But the lithographs were new territory.

One early ad for Siesta bore this copy: "Because Mr. Quaintance feels 'Siesta' is his finest and most inspired work, he wishes to keep it exclusive to sincere admirers of his art. Therefore it will not be shown in PHYSIQUE PICTORIAL or any other publication distributed to the general public." The first edition quickly sold out and a second edition was printed, although the quantities (and the printer) remain unknown.

Advertising copy for Preludio was equally fulsome with praise: "Art Critics of two continents pronounce 'Preludio' the supreme masterpiece of all the Quaintance paintings. The compelling drama of this great work should be enjoyed in its full and brilliant coloring."

In the late 1990s, the Tom of Finland Foundation came into possession of all the unsold copies of both lithographs and offered them to the public — but at a substantially higher price.  Today, the original canvases reside on opposite sides of the continent — Siesta in a collection in Los Angeles and Preludio in a collection in New York City.

Taking advantage of the new burst of gay consciousness expressed in physical culture known as beefcake in post-World War II America, Quaintance and Garcia began marketing black-and-white photographs of his near-nude models and color prints of the paintings. In 1953, he wrote a friend that "business has grown to fantastic proportions in the last few months and truly I'm practically out of my mind trying to keep up with it."

In 1953, Quaintance painted a series based on bull fighting with a dark, handsome matador. The model was Angel Avila, one of several swarthy Latinos who became artist lovers outside of his continuing relationship with his first love, Victor Garcia. In a letter to a friend dated April 27, 1953, Quaintance wrote that the paintings "were done in turmoil, in passion--I might even say in emotional agony."

This trio of paintings--Preludio, Gloria, and Moribundo--may have reflected the course of the love affair from its prelude to its physical fulfillment to its death-like ending.

(for referencenot for sale)

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. The paintings are among the best in the Quaintance oeuvre, rising above the almost cartoon-like depictions of cowboys and Roman slaves.