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Wednesday, November 25, 2020


George Platt Lynes is best known to us today for his male nudes, but he made his living doing portraits of celebrities and the well-to-do.  This photo of gay author Somerset Maugham looking over an attractive young man is a personal favorite of mine from the celebrity category.

 

5 comments:

  1. Wow, this takes my breath away. I am certainly thankful that you posted this image. I wish there were more.

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    1. Although this is the only celebrity Lynes photo where the subject is ogling a young man, you can do a Google Images search for "Lynes Celebrity Photos." Some interesting people come up, including Gloria Swanson and Jean Cocteau.

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  2. Was this photo shown during Somerset Maugham and Lynes lifetime? If it was shown was it too "coded" for most people to realize what it implied?

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    1. That's a good question, and I don't know the answer. Other Lynes photos of Maugham were exhibited during his lifetime and are now in museum collections, but if I had to guess, I'd say this one was probably private.

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  3. Mr. Maugham in charge !
    And you better believe someone's going to be put through their paces.
    -Rj in the IE

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