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Male Nudes The predecessors of Beefcake photography treated their male models as works of art. They were classical sculptures staged in real life, languid Pre-Raphaelite youths on the rocks, Olympic athletes and Roman soldiers posing on the fields of Germany and in the studios of Paris. While bodybuilders like Sandow enjoyed popularity through their own mass-produced cabinet cards, most early male nude photography featured less-built-up models and seemed to have been printed more with art than marketing in mind. And while the works of Eadweard Muybridge, Thomas Eakins, Max Koch and Otto Rieth were studies for painting, architecture, and human locomotion, photographers like Guglielmo Plüschow and Wihelm von Gloeden produced enduring works of art in the photographs themselves. Their work lead the way for such masters as Edwin Townsend, George Platt Lynes, and Al Urban. If you would like to learn more about the history of early male nude photography and its most popular artists, please check out our links page. Learn more about early male nude photography by visiting other web sites, reading book reviews and purchasing titles of interest from our Links & Books page. |
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Featured Images: Artistic Male Nudes, late 1800s to 1930s
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"Academic Nude with Hands to Ankle" |
"Ed Gloeggler" |
"Academic Nude in Studio" |
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Eugen Sandow (1867-1925) was arguably the best known and greatest bodybuilder of the late 19th Century. Throughout his extensive career, he used the developing medium of photography to market himself in cabinet cards and photographs. He was a favored model of some of the best of the 19th Century artists and body building enthusiasts. Learn more about Sandow on our Links & Books page.
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"Sandow" |
"Sandow by Steckel" |
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"Exuberance of Youth" |
"Two Men with Flag" |
"Academic Nude Study w Pole" |
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"Le Nu Esthetique" |
"Reginal Cropsey" |
"Nude in Portrait Studio" circa 1880, $550 photographer unknown 4½X6¼" cabinet card |
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