Naked Men

This volume documents a moment in the history of American culture - a period in the 1930s, 40s and 50s that gave birth to a new notion of male beauty and desire, and to a new type of male icon. Long before Stonewall and the gay pride movement, a small group of daring men - photographers and the models who sat for them - helped pave the way for male sexual liberation. Led by photographer George Platt Lynes, and featuring men such as Jean Marais, Yul Brynner, Paul Cadmus and Tennessee Williams, the group - straight men as well as gay - shattered taboos surrounding the artistic representations of the male figure. The influence of their work continues today, and can be seen in the work of modern artists including Bruce Weber, Herb Ritts and Robert Mapplethorpe.