These masterful renderings of virile men engrossed in acts of homoerotic desire can be approached along several interpretative lines-art historical, social, technical-but each of them points to the revolutionary nature of his project. In his youth, Tom trained at an advertising school, but what he would come to call his “dirty drawings,” which he first began developing as a teenager, were the true focus of his attention, both during this formative period and throughout the entirety of his life.
Tom of Finland (Touko Laaksonen, Finnish, 1920-1991) is widely regarded as one of the twentieth century’s most influential artists for his groundbreaking representation of the male figure.
