A couple of vintage photos from the many examples on Flickr.
Elsewhere on { feuilleton }
• The men with swords archive
7 thoughts on “Men with swords”
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A journal by artist and designer John Coulthart.
this is the sort of porn we should all be looking at on the net
no more of these hairless bland american steroid users with chitinous abs and cocks like baugettes.
I like a bit of class with my ass.
Yes, a beautiful sword.
I love these vintage photos, I think they are so erotics.
Xtiaan: I could ramble at length about what fascinates with older images like these. I think it’s mainly due to the gap between presentation and reality. These kind of pictures masquerade as one thing—“physique examples”, “views of antiquity”—when they’re really about something else entirely which dare not speak its name. One of the things that art does is allow space for the imagination and that’s what these pictures do as well. That space is diminished by porn which is only ever one thing and, as you say, often a very homogenised thing at that.
And I don’t know what this fencers fetish of mine is all about. I think it was the picture of the sexy French swordsmen linked above which set it off.
Believe it or not, the last Vintage Beefcake post I did was going to be Men With Swords! Seriously! Apparently it was a popular motif. Not there is any Freudian significance or anything…
Heh, that’s interesting, I’ve not seen much vintage sword stuff. Fifties muscle photos always seems to be wrestling or the occasional gladiator. Something to look for in that case, especially since the Flandrin theme is a bit exhausted.
hey John (I feel like I should address you as Mr Coulthart)
keep on with the flandrin thing tho
I really like to see the way classical allegories get reinterpreted through the ages
Erk, not Mr Coulthart, that’s far too formal. John is fine, thanks. :)
I’ll certainly be continuing with the Flandrin posts if I see anything suitable, it’s just that for now I seem to have exhausted that particular line of enquiry. But one thing those posts have shown is the recurrent popularity of that pose so I’m sure further examples will emerge in time.