The 19th C. Germans, Part 2 - the art of Otto Greiner

Otto Greiner (1869-1919) was a German painter and lithographer whose art was quirky by the standards of his time.  He was a close friend of Max Klinger and studied with him in Italy for a time.  Some of Greiner's art has themes of various mythological types as well as a few religious references.  This 1911 photo is supposedly cropped from a bigger one.  Too bad we can't see it all.

Greiner did this 1912 standing male nude with a mask partially using the heliogravure technique, an early form of photographic reproduction.

This is a student academic piece by Greiner with the usual stamp.

I don't know what is going on in this odd unfinished Greiner painting, but I like it.

In fact, I'm sure I would like to have been there, whatever it was.

Here we have a study for Ulysses and the Sirens, the full color version of which I will feature in a later series. Greiner seems to have done some additional work to the heads and faces
of two of the men with updated versions at the bottom of the drawing.

Greiner definitely had a weird side as witnessed by this lithograph called The Mortar of Life.

This oil painting titled simply Standing Male Nude is something 

of a contrast to the more avant garde style of most of Greiner's work.

The 19th C. Germans, Part 1 - the Photos of Wilhelm von Pluschow

Wilhelm von Pluschow (1852-1930) was a German photographer who moved to Italy about 1880, changed his first name to Guglielmo, and started photographing nude young men.  He was eventually joined in his pursuit of both photography and young men by his cousin, Wilhelm von Gloeden.  Von Gloeden is better known today, but von Pluschow's work is worth a series.  We start with one of his older models who seems to be stretching in an ornate doorway.

Von Pluschow captured this model from the rear in that

 quintessential Italian activity, picking grapes.

This is one of my favorite von Pluschow photos.  The reclining model manages

 to be both languid and impish at the same time.

I can't quite grasp the chemistry, if any, between these two models.  Although he was older and more experienced at photography, von Pluschow's work was eclipsed by that of his cousin Wilhelm von Gloeden.  Many critics have opined that the elder photographer's posing was stilted and his lighting not always effective.  Both of them had problems with the legal authorities.

Although in a typical von Pluschow pose, there is a hint of toughness to this model.

Fake Sailors, but no Fake Fur

Our theme for Thursday is hairy models with sailor caps.  

We start with this unknown fellow with a smirk.
Edited to add:  My friend Boz write to say this is Steve Marl.  Thanks!

Not the furriest of today's models, but Rick looks good in this AMG photo.

The semi-profile approach of the photographer to this model works, 

but I don't know who either of them are.

This is Tom De Carlo, photographer unknown, at least to me.
Edited to add:  Fellow blogger James IV notes in the comments that this is by John Palatinus, a photographer I need to reseearch.  Thanks!  Check out James' excellent site at:
http://menfrombackthen.blogspot.com/

This image is a teeny bit fuzzy, but the fuzz on the sailor is clear enough.

I'm adding this AMG photo of a hairy model in a jockstrap and sailor cap as a bonus photo for today.

Germans in Nature, Part 2 - the Semi-nudes, mostly athletic

This is an amazing self portrait by Rudolf Koppitz, presumably taken in the Alps.

This may be my favorite of the day, and all I know about it is that it came labelled "B.M. Muller."

Those medicine balls could be quite heavy.  I had a sadistic PE teacher in high school 

who used to clobber the kids he didn't like with one.

Given that this is the third Koppitz photo of the day, I might as well (deservedly) have given him his own series.  This one is Nude Study at the Lake.

This 1936 Leni Riefenstahl photo takes us into the the Nazi era and is probably part of a series she did associated with the 1936 Berlin Olympics.  A willing propaganda tool of the Hitler regime best known for the Nazi love-fest movie Triumph of the Will, Riefenstahl tried to rehabilitate herself after World War II by doing nature and ethnographic photography, mostly in tropical locales.

Germans in Nature

It's back to nature day on the blog with those 1900-1940 Germans who loved to frolic outdoors nude.  Our R-rated series begins with this photo that I can't quite figure out.  He's standing on tiptoe and seems to be skipping rope, but there's no rope.  Odd.  I have other photos made in this walled terrace area that seem to be more directly athletic, so maybe he left his rope at home.

These two men seem to be enjoying the outdoors and possibly each other.

This Rudolf Koppitz photo pretty much sums up the love of nature today's theme represents.

We used to play a game in junior high school called ring toss, 

but I don't think that's what is going on here.

The caption that came with this one translates as "unknown bodybuilder with medicine ball."