Vintage Muscle Men

Sunday, September 21, 2025

Gaudenzio Marconi Day

Doing a full series of ten photos by Gaudenzio Marconi today. This is the first

of four in the set which seem to portray some form of violence. It's not

that I'm into that. I just don't have many unposted Marconis left.

Taking a swing

I can't tell what this guy is doing, but he may be about to take a swing

at somebody. Whatever the intent, he looks serious about it.

Stretch

If they didn't call this guy "Stretch," they should have.

Baldy

I wish I had a corresponding front view of this balding Marconi model.

Trio

This violent little scene was in a group of three original Marconi prints that sold

for a ridiculous amount of money in an on-line auction.

Without the grid

Here is a "new" version of this photo which I declared to be my all time favorite over a year ago. The one I posted back then had yellowing and a enlargement grid drawn over it. I like this better.

Flandrin Derivative

I can't help but think that this is derived from Flandrin's famous painting. It had time to become iconic between 1855 when the painting was done and 1875 when Marconi's career hit its stride.

Another struggle

This is another example of a recent find where struggle or violence was the theme.

Spear chucker

It's a bit hard to tell, but this spear chucker was one of Marconi's regular models.

Tumblr Snag

This is a repeat from six years ago of a tumblr snag I call "Woe is me!"

If this represented a slave auction, I would have bid on him.

Saturday, September 20, 2025

Andy Warhol

I haven't done a full Andy Warhol series in about a year, so here we go. I think most of these are Polaroids, and we start with Mr. Warhol with fellow artist Donald Baechler.

Uncertain

Although his posture says he's confidently walking ahead,

this unknown model's face says something else.

Specks and spots

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Another

Another Polaroid of another unknown model.

Weightlifter

This weightlifter kept his skimpy undies on for his 15 minutes of fame.

But could he have been famous with his name not recorded?

Warhol made quite a few of his male nude Polaroids at what were basically open cattle call tryouts. Someone would simply put the word out that Warhol was looking for models, and all sorts of people would show up. This fellow does not look like the typical sort one associates with Warhol, and those sneakers mark a point in time of American footwear evolution. I want more of this guy.

Color Bulldog

Our lone color item of the set is a bulldog pose Polaroid. For whatever reason,

Warhol's color Polaroids were of better quality than the black and white.

Standard pose

This is a pretty standard physique era pose,

but Warhol did it from an oblique angle.

Victor Hugo

This is Warhol's assistant Victor Hugo, aka Victor Rojas, leaning out through a screen door.

His love affair with Halston was legendary for its utter and complete dysfuntion,

and that's saying an awful lot, given that it was the Studio 54 era.

For Sale

This one is for sale on a reputable gallery site for a cool U$24,000. And before you say "Not in a million years," a similar, less attractive (imho) photo sold for exactly that much.