Out/Lines: Gay Underground Erotic Graphics from Before Stonewall

By: Waugh, Thomas

Gay male representation of sexuality has a long history of varied visibility and acceptance, but the 100 or so years of queer life before Stonewall were a period of unprecedented self-identification as well as renewed pressure to hide and suppress the erotic imagery of gay men in western culture. Out/Lines features a resurrection of erotic gay images, once virtually buried and invisible, that circulated in clandestine communities whose sexualized visibility was a potentially devastating risk--a wealth of approximately 200 previously unpublished "obscene" images from the queer pre-Stonewall underground.

Drawn mainly from American, German, Italian, and French sources, these images will both broaden and tantalize our view of queer culture with a surprising range of historical styles and motifs. While many of the artists remain anonymous or unknown, some have begun to have increasing notoriety on the erotic gay market. Works include images from a 1945 booklet of 20 unofficial illustrations for Jean Genet's Our Lady of the Flowers; the British artist known as "Hank," whose steamy couplets called "Homo Hotel" featured hot, horny sailors and Cliff Richards haircuts; the increasingly well-known American artist Neel Bate, whose nom de crayon was "Blade"; and numerous contemporaries and admirers of the legendary erotic artist Tom of Finland.

Waugh's narrative considers both fantasy and history by exploring the cultural and erotic dynamics and the social context in which these secret, sexualized images were created and collected. Historically rigorous and aesthetically explicit, Out/Lines is sure to shock and astonish.

Thomas Waugh teaches film studies at Montreal's Concordia University. He is a critic, public lecturer, and festival programmer, and is the author of Hard to Imagine: Gay Male Eroticism in Photography and Film from their Beginnings to Stonewall.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1551521237
• ISBN13: 9781551521237
• Release Date: November 2002
• Publisher: Arsenal Pulp Press
• Length: 296 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 8.0" x 9.8"

Customer Reviews

Homoerotic Drawings

Waugh, Thomas. "Out/Lines: Underground Gay Graphics from Before Stonewall", Arsenal Pulp Press, 2002. Homoerotic Drawings Amos Lassen and Literary Pride About two hundred homoerotic drawings are collected in "Out/Lines" from the author's own collection. They show a rich and extensive collection of male sexual graphics and together with a detailed introduction we see a rich history. The drawings are by such artists as Tom of Finland, Etienne, Blade, Steve masters, and Graewolf as well as lesser known artists. Meant to inspire lust, some of these drawings foreshadow the age of pornography of today. Tame by what we have today, they are nevertheless erotic. Here is an important book for anyone who s interested in our history. Covering the period from the 1920's to the 1960's, we see the representations that were once outlawed ad illegal. Created by both professional artists and amateurs, the drawings are interesting in that they show that not only they existed but were important to men at a time when any expression of homosexuality was forbidden. Yet even though they were forbidden, they achieved popularity and were collected by many as well as sold and given as gifts. Waugh also gives interesting background of eleven of the artists and presents a look at the sexual fantasies and practices some fifty years before the Stonewall riots. The introduction by Waugh is well researched and interesting reading. It gives an academic look at the history of erotic drawings and the cultural meanings ascribed to them. I found the book to be arousing, entertaining and educational, all at the same time and is a must for all serious collectors of erotica. We so often forget that there was a period before Stonewall in which things were very much different. It was an era where gay pornography was not tolerated and definitely not accepted. Waugh's personal collection is history and it exudes the personality of the man who collected the drawings and further helps to understand the times in which they were created and circulated. Waugh manages in his writing to relay serious history balancing it with lust and desire to give us a wonderful look at what was. After reading what he has to say about the art in his book, it is impossible to look at these pictures as anything but historical.

Quite an Achievement!

Thomas Waugh has collected and published here for the first time some of the most explicit homoerotic drawings from the period before the Stonewall riot in 1969. There are about 200 previously unpublished gay male sexual graphics in this book that are from the author's extensive collection. The amount of work and effort Waugh has taken to bring this collection to print is inspiring and a credit to this author's dedication to recording this rich history. Tom of Finland, Blade, Etienne, Steve Masters and Graewolf are some of the more well-known artists represented, along with many other unknown artists. Ein Liebhaber is a favorite of mine, whose drawings of orgies of ancient youths in Corinthian helmets is fascinating. There's no denying these images were meant to create lust. They may seem a little tame by today's standards, but can still create a highly erotic desire when viewed. Waugh's essays of introduction are well-researched and fascinating reading for anyone desiring a detailed and academic history of erotic drawings and what it all means culturally. For those of us who prefer to just peruse the drawings, each drawing is explained at the bottom of the page. The author's biographies of the artists are a definite plus and appreciated. It's nice that we get to know the artists, which often is sadly missing in other books of this genre. This is a must for any collector of gay male erotic art. It is a book that will entertain, arouse, and teach all at the same time. Highly recommended!Joe Hanssen

History of Homoerotic Desire

This is an important and well crafted book that surveys the fascinating world of erotic images created by and for gay men from the 1920s through the 1960s, when any such drawings, hetero, homo or bi, were outlawed.These images were created by a wide range of men, from professional artists to untalented amateurs. One of the more interesting aspects of viewing them today is knowing how important they were to large numbers of men during a time when any expression of homosexual desire was so forbidden. Although prohibited, they were very popular, and like illicit photographs, were widely collected, reproduced, and sold, given, or traded among gay male friends and acquaintances. Waugh identifies and discusses 11 of the more prolific artists of the genre, most of them for the first time. This offers an engrossing glimpse of the erotic desires and sexual fantasies and practices held by gay men during the fifty years before Stonewall, and is a book I enthusiastically recommend to anyone interested in this subject.