DETAILS: George Quaintance Photo Portfolio Catalog. Circa 1950. A set of five catalog portfolio plates of George Quaintence's photographic works. Each plate is double sided and features Quaintance's top models. Because Quaintance designed his catalog as a portfolio format with plates, it was issued unstapled. For this reason partial sets are exceptionally rare. We have searched the past 20 years of online sales history as well as OCLC academic institutional holdings and have only been able to find three other examples of partial of 5 or more plates. Indeed, the rare example that has appeared on ebay over the years has typically been for a single plate. Measures 7 1/4" x 7 1/4" inches. Scarce. 


FEATURED MODELS: The following is a list of the models featured:  Sam Hunter, Carl Blahofsky, Ewardo, Bob Kirkwood, Zaro Rossi, Jessie Dalton, Angel Avila,
Jim Shoemaker, Bill Boes, Scotty Bowers and Ken Irby .



BACKGROUND: The thing that makes the works of Gerge Quaintance so desired by art lovers was its unique form that was never like anything else available at the time. This portfolio catalog is a perfect example of his unique approach to the homophile art movement. Other catalogs of the era were cheap flimsy booklets assembled together with little regard to content or presentation. Most featured a single image of the model with few details and an order form. That was it. Quaintance however, took an entirely different approach. Titled "Models", his catalog was designed like an actual art portfolio with double sided plates featuring all of the photos of the particular model that appeared in the set. Along with the numerous images of the models, Quaintance also included biographical details of the models along with hand lettered fonts and artwork. Even the cover has self a portrait of the gifted artist along with a painting of his painters palette.



BIOGRAPHY: George Quaintance (1902 – 1957) was an American artist, photographer and sculptor famous for his idealized, strong masculine depictions of gay men in mid-20th-century physique art movement. Using historical settings to justify the nudity or to distance the subjects from modern society, his art featured idealized muscular, semi-nude or nude male figures. Many times they incorporated Wild West and Western themed settings. His artwork helped change common misconceptions of gay men as being effeminate. His work was among the very first to establish the stereotype of the "macho male" who was also homosexual, leading him to be called a "pioneer of a gay aesthetic". He was an influence on many gay artists, such as Tom of Finland, Bruce Bellas (Burce of LA) and Jim French (Colt Studios).

GUARANTEE: We offer a lifetime guarantee on everything we sell to be authentic originals and as represented. They are not later re-issues or reprints. We thoroughly inspect all of our items prior to listing to make certain they are authentic and guarantee their authenticity for the lifetime of the item. 

Oxxbridge Galleries was founded in 1987 and specializes in vintage paper items with a particular focus on counter culture materials. We carry among the largest selection of fine art gay photographs, magazines and collectibles available anywhere on line. We invite everyone to visit browse our store and view our entire inventory.