Arno Breker Day

When I posted an Arno Breker (1900-1991) series on my old tumblr, I caught some flak 

from more than one viewer for featuring a darling of the Nazis and favorite of Adolf Hitler.  

While Breker's work does fit the Aryan superman myth, there is an undeniable sense of raw 

masculinity in it that draws our attention.  This will probably be the only time I do this, 

and I'm including some biographical and historical notes that show some of the darker 

elements of his story.  We start with Battle Against the Serpents from 1940.

 

Decathlete

Arno Breker won the silver medal for Decathlete in the 1936 Olympics sculpture competition.

Although not yet officially a Nazi, his style was clearly in keeping with theirs.

Who knows?  He might have won gold had he joined the party sooner.

 

Prometheus

Although it had a clear Classical reference, Prometheus from 1937

was quite in keeping with Breker's Nazi inspired work.

 

Berufung

This appears to be a plaster mockup for this Breker piece called Berufung, or Predestination,

which was in the Nazi art catalog for 1942.  It was the last piece cast in bronze due

 to wartime metal shortages, and I believe the original was destroyed.

 

Der Wäger

Der Wäger (above and below from a different angle) was supposed to represent the spirit of the Reich, but got more attention for the fact that it appeared that Dr. Karl Brandt has posed for it, at least from the neck up.  Brandt, the man behind the euthanasia and medical experimentation programs of the Third Reich had the distinction of being the only war criminal condemned to death by both the Nazis and the Allies.  The Nazis convicted him of moving his family away from Berlin so that they would be in the zone of the Americans at the end of the war.  His friend Heinrich Himmler managed to delay the intended execution long enough for the war to end, but the Americans hanged him in 1948 for a variety of war crimes.

 

The Party

Arno Breker joined the Nazi Party in 1937, and created this piece called The Party

shortly thereafter to decorate one of the ceremonial entrances to Albert Speer's

rebuild of the Reich's Chancellery for Hitler.  It was destroyed in 1945.

 

Weedy

Somebody needed to get busy with a weedeater in this garden featuring several of Breker's statues.

 

Der Sieger

Breker sculpted Der Sieger (The Victor) in 1939.

 

Bereitschaft

Bereitschaft (Readiness) was created by Arno Breker in 1939 on the eve of World War II.

Although he claimed to have only joined the Nazi Party to solidify their patronage,

the postwar Denazification Courts were not fully convinced.

 

Alexander

This is the last scupture ever done by Arno Breker, Alexander the Great and the Eagle of Zeus from 1982.  If you think it looks remarkably like his work for the Nazis, you wouldn't be alone.

 

James E. Davis, Part 1 - Photos

Today I'm presenting a double feature of works by James E. Davis, 1901-1974. 

 Part one will be photos, followed by some of his art in part two.  We start with a 1968 

picture of Paul Haus taken on a swimming expedition to an abandoned quarry.

 

Richard Wilson

James E. Davis set up some exceptional lighting for this photo of Richard Wilson.

 

Rob Israel

Here we see Rob Israel in what I find to be an interesting pose.

 

Ralph Grippo

Ralph Grippo posed in what appears to the the outflow channel of  small dam.

 

Joe Camulli

1972 was the year Joe Camulli posed for this James E. Davis photo.

 

Neil Zevnich

This photo of Neil Zevnich is all about shadows.

 

Raoul Rachou

The model for this well lighted photo was Raoul Rachou.

 

James E. Davis, Part 2 - Art Works

As promised, part two of the series has some art work.  The model 

for this piece was Joe Daetwyler, and it was done in 1938.

 

French Sailor

James E. Davis painted French Sailor in 1928.

 

1939

I rather lilke this rear view of a seated male from 1939.

 

More sailors

This painting of three sailors is from 1929.

 

1947

By 1947, Mr. Davis' nude art had taken a somewhat more abstract turn.

 

George Platt Lynes

We're overdue for another George Platt Lynes series, so let's start with this shot of Jose Martinez.

The last time I flew through LAX, they had an outdoor art installation thar reminded me of this.

Of course there was no naked man, but there were some square towers.

 

Geometric

I like the geometry of this undated and unnamed G.P. Lynes photo.

Edited to add:  I had to rotate this to give the correct alignment.  See Tom's comment below.

Orpheus in Hades

Lynes' staging for Orpheus in Hades from 1936 is amazing.

 

Bruce Bradbury

It was 1953 when Bruce Bradbury posed for this six-pack shot.

I didn't know guys did that in 1953.  Well, maybe I did, but I'm still amazed.

 

Jack Fontan

Jack Fontan posed for about five photos in this doorway for G.P. Lynes.

 

Beautiful Blonde

I wish I knew the name of the beautiful blonde model here.

 

Bill Bailey

George Platt Lynes took this photo of Bill Bailey in his black socks in 1940.

 

All over the place

I have seen this excellent photo dated as 1940, 1948, and 1954, with the model as either 

Mel Fillini, Gordon Hanson, or unknown.  It's a beautiful photo regardless.

 

Shadow

This photo combines Mr. Lynes penchant for contrasting light and shadow

 as well as that for cropping body elements out of the frame.

 

Wrong date?

An on-line auction site has the date on this as 1931, but it looks older to me.

 

Finally, a treasure and a story

When I posted this G.P. Lynes image several years ago, I lamented the lack of information about it.  Well, a copy was found in the estate of Paul Cadmus' lover of 35 years Jonathan Anderson.  On the back was the year, 1941 and a red stamp saying "Collection of Paul Cadmus."  Below that was a stamp saying "Collection of Jon Anderson."  Mr. Anderson passed away in 2018, having outlived Mr. Cadmus by two decades.  This photo must have been very special to have been preserved and handed down.  I thought it was amazing before, and even more so now.