Gustav Klimt

Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) was an Austrian artist who was admitted to Vienna's Kunstgewerbeschule academy at the remarkably young age of 14.  He is best known for The Kiss (shown above at left) and other groundbreaking works he did from about 1890 onward.  For our purposes, however, 

we will be looking at his early academic nudes and a study of a satyr.

 

Seated nude

This seated male nude with a staff from 1880 is an exceptional depiction of the male form, imho.

 

Peekaboo

The male form is the most striking part of this drawing, but the pronounced

 upper spine and peekaboo view between his legs are also noteworthy.

 

Interesting pose

This is one of the more interesting poses we are likely to see in an academic drawing.

I hope our resident life model David will give us his professional take on it.

 

1880

It was 1880 when Klimt drew this statuesque model from the rear.

 

Boxes

Those boxes were versatile props used by nearly all the 19th C. academies.

The model here has a little pillow for his knee.

 

Study for Satyr

This is a study for the satyr component of Klimt's 1886-87 wall painting, The Altar of Dionysos.  

It is located above one of the main staircases at the Burgtheater in Vienna, and it is one 

of those occasions where the study is better than the finished work, shown below.

 

Muscles

The well drawn muscles show the model's upper body 

to be more developed than the lower.

 

Bearded Man

This beautiful Klimt portrait drawins is known only as "Bearded Man."

 

Youthful model

The youthful model in this drawing appears to be sitting on some odd sort of cushion.

 

Red Background

The model in our second academic painting is holding a staff that Klimt 

only partially painted in, and the red background is rather striking.

 

Done at age 17

Our last Klimt drawing is dated 1879, which would have been when the artist was age 17.

I'm not surprised at the quality, given that he had been in the most prestigious 

art academy in Vienna for three years by that point.

 

Pat Milo Day

It's Pat Milo day, and we start with Ron Gregory sitting on some steps.

 

John Davidson

Some fine beef on display in this rear view of John Davidson.

And no, this is not the TV actor and singer of the same name.

 

John Adams

I've seen this model listed as both John Adams and John Quincy Adams.

 

Tony Sabatino

We get a nice peekaboo from Tony Sabatino.

 

Larry Pearson

The angle Pat Milo used to pose Larry Pearson gives us a different sort of view.

 

Chuck Baker

In our second outdoor photo of the series we see Chuck Baker in a wooded area.

 

Zofe Larrey

I somehow find myself imagining that Zore Larrey is pulling on a giant 

industrial lever in one of those 1930-ish dystopian European movies.

 

Bob Baxter

Pat Milo only used the giant hand prop from this photo of Bob Baxter a few times.

 

Cherokee

Here we have a rear view of Everett Lee "Cherokee" Jackson.

 

Billy Chapman

Finishing the Pat Milo set with Billy Chapman doing a Man of Steel pose.

 

Skinny Dipping Day

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Beer Barrels

These men may have found a good way to keep their beer cool.

 

Team

Enlarge this one if you can to enjoy the bulges a bit more.

Mr. Third from Right has a bit smile for us.

 

Duo

The guy at right seems shy, but then he does seem to have more to show.

 

Glutes Galore!

Instead of putting my favorite of the day at the beginning or end of the set, I'm planting this one in the middle.  Friend and frequent contributor Dee Exx sent me this fabulous photo of Japanese sailors about to go for a swim in their fundoshi.  Just look at those fine bottoms!  Thanks, Dee!

 

Off to the right

Most of these skinny dippers appear to be looking off to the right.

 

Latvia

This undated photo was made in Latvia, and two of the men have great tans.

 

1903 Swedes

My source says these are Swedes from 1903.

 

1950

Stauch's Bath House on Coney Island was the setting for this out of focus 1950 photo.

 

Dock or Barge

These clever fellows are making a floating dock (or is it a barge?) out of empty oil drums.