An L.A. home where homoerotic artist Tom of Finland lived is a shrine to his legacy

3rd October 2019, 2:57 pm

 

Dehner, left, and S.R. Sharp, his partner of 20-plus years, the Tom of Finland Foundation vice president.(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Owned by Tom of Finland’s lover, business partner and muse, Durk Dehner, the now private-public residence houses the Tom of Finland Foundation, holder of the largest collection of Tom art, about 1,500 works. All told, the organization stewards more than 100,000 images and related materials including vintage pornography — billed as the world’s largest repository of erotic art.

“I made a pact with Tom before he passed that I would do everything within my capacity to keep him out in the popular culture,” says Dehner, 70, who in 1980 invited the artist to live in his just-purchased Echo Park home (he stayed for six-month stretches allowed by his visa). Their bond began with a fan letter Dehner sent in 1976 upon spotting a drawing in a leather bar.


READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE BY R. DANIEL FOSTER

Published: 3rd October 2019

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