How Tom of Finland went from belittled ‘pornographer’ to one of the world’s most iconic artists

7th March 2023, 5:51 pm

 

 

TOM OF FINLAND Untitled, 1989, Graphite on paper © 1989 Tom of Finland Foundation

 

Tom of Finland created art that was deeply subversive and powerfully erotic – but he was often dismissed as a “pornographer” during his lifetime.

 

The artist Tom of Finland has become a household name for his iconic erotic drawings of men with bulging muscles, tight trousers and leather jackets. Defiantly Queer, his works are found on T-shirts and vodka bottles, and in respected galleries around the world.

But during his lifetime he was largely shunned by many in the art world, his close friend Durk Dehner recalls.

“[They] were giving Tom reviews that classified him first as a pornographer, then a bit later as an illustrator,” Dehner tells PinkNews.” “They did not perceive what the content of his work was outside of horny drawings. They did not see that he was creating a vision for his fellow Homosexuals to relate to.”

 

Tom of Finalnd was born in 1920 in Finland, where homosexuality remained a criminal offence until the 1970s.

 

TOM OF FINLAND Untitled, 1985, Graphite on paper © 1985 Tom of Finland Foundation

 

Somehow, he found the courage to start publicising his art, even despite the fact that Homosexuality was deeply taboo. In 1957, some of his drawings were published in an American magazine called Physique Pictorial – but even then, he had to bow down to the law. It was illegal to depict “overt Homosexual acts” in the US at that time, so he had to err on the side of caution with his early drawings.

The attitudes and culture of the 1950s and 1960s meant that Tom didn’t really get the chance to fully thrive as an artist until the 1970s. It wasn’t until 1973 that he finally found himself in a position to give up his full-time job at an advertising agency so he could dedicate himself fully to his craft.

In 1977, Tom travelled to the United States to exhibit his work – and it was there that he met Dehner for the first time. The pair became friends and founded Tom Of Finland Company together, an organisation dedicated to protecting his copyright and his images.

To this day, Dehner – who is also the co-founder of Tom of Finland Foundation – remembers how clear Tom’s vision was, and he recalls how the art world slowly but surely came to respect and embrace the man who defined queer erotic imagery.

READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE BY PATRICK KELLEHER

Published: 7th March 2023

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