George Hester Day

I've spent over a year, off and on, looking for some crisp versions of the 1970s male nudes of George Hester, 1923-2022.  So far, all I've found are grainy images, some of which look like quickie cell phone shots.  Perhaps that was his style, but I can't imagine there being no repository of his work other than book resellers on eBay and other online venues.  So today is George Hester day, and I'm posting the best of what I could find.  If any of you own any of his books, please comment.

 

Hazy

The hazy nature of this photo doesn't put me off,

but I do wonder if it was intentional.

 

Back

I find this backside view interesting.

 

Right at us

I'm not sure if this model is looking right at us or right through us.

 

Group

George Hester photographed a number of nude groups, 

some of mixed gender and some all male.

 

Lynes linfluence

I don't know if George Hester was familiar with the work of George Platt Lynes,

but if not, their aesthetic certainly overlapped at times.

 

Page

I can't tell if this was the original page layout from Mr. Hester's book'

or something the seller put together to promote it.

 

Nice

Nice derriere on this one.

 

Favorite

This one is a personal favorite.

 

Grainy, but well lighted

Our last George Hester image is another one on the grainy side.  I'm still wondering if that is some sort of artistic statement or if no one has bothered to put high resolution images of his work online.

 

Academic Art Day

I have a vast digital collection of academic male nude art, mostly 19th Century, 

that I will never have time to post in full.  Today's chunk is a mix of paintings

 and drawings, starting with this work by Louis-Paul Fournier from 1880.

 

Edouard-Gabriel Bergevin

I've seen the pose used for this 1883 drawing by Edouard-Gabriel Bergevin called "subway straphanger."  Any resident or frequent visitor to New York will understand.

 

Fernand Lematte

If this painting by Fernand Lematte looks familiar, it's because several of his classmates painted the same model in the same pose, but from slightly different angles.  Also, the model was apparently popular because I have seen him in a number of different poses.

 

Louis-Leopold Boilly

This undated drawing is by Louis-Leopold Boilly.

 

Wilhelm Kuhnert

An approximate date of 1885 was given for this Wilhelm Kuhnert painting.

 

Edouard Gatteaux

I don't have a date for this drawing by Edouard Gatteaux,

but his life span of 1788-1881 would place it around 1810.

 

Joseph-Marie Ferrier

The pose of the model is interesting in this painting from 1869 by Joseph-Marie Ferrier.

 

Charles Waltner

There's some visible documentation attached to this 1868 prize winner by Charles Waltner.

 

Chazal

Chazal painted this one in 1847.

 

Unknown

My source called this one "unknown" despite the writing at lower right.

If anyone can decypher it, please comment.

 

Edouard Debat-Ponsan

This painting by Edouard Debat-Ponson was done as part of his training in 1870.

 

Henri Levy

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Early Twentieth Century

Today's photos are all supposed to be early 20th Century, but an item or two from the 19th may have sneaked in.  We start with a model who will appear again later in today's set.

 

Library

The man is quite all right, but it's the composition of the photo that grabs me.

 

Leaning back

I'd love to know why this guy is leaning back and looking at the ceiling.

Perhaps the photo is some sort of anatomical reference.  My source didn't say.

 

Fencing

This is my new favorite fencing photo.

 

Outdoor beard

This is a repeat post of an Arthur Schulz photo that I'm particularly fond of.

 

Wrestlers?

I think these two may be about to wrestle, but I'm not really certain.

Maybe their playing patty cake, patty cake instead.

 

Helmet

I think this attractive model is holding the helmet from a Medieval suit of armor.

 

Set?

The architecture here looks like some sort of purpose built theatrical set.

 

No clue

I have no clue what this guy is supposed to be doing.

 

Forlorn

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