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Saturday, November 28, 2020

Sandow gets plastered . . . plus a few strays


This is the only known frontal nude photo of Eugen Sandow (1867-1925), the German strongman and showman. He became a guru of fitness and male beauty when he moved to London in 1889, and he traveled the world attracting huge crowds of male and female fans.  While in the USA for an extended time in the early 1890s, he lived with his musical accompanist who was rumored to be his gay lover.  These rumors were reinforced when Sandow's wife burned all his personal letters and papers upon his death and buried him in an unmarked grave.  (A fan later provided a handsome marker.)  Sometime around 1900, he agreed to be cast in plaster for a statue in London, and that session is the subject of most of our photos today.  This seems to be the start of the process.

 

12 comments:

  1. A fascinating life. Buried in London. I must visit his grave.

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    1. He's at Putney Vale Cemetery, Wimbledon. Here's a link you'll have to cut and paste to use:

      https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/22502/eugen-sandow

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    2. Thank you. We need to get that statue of display again.

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  2. According to my sources, this is the only photo of him with full frontal nudity. If I'm wrong, please let me know! LOL.

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  3. (P.S. Jerry, I just your same comment in a posting below. Sorry about that.)

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    1. No worries. Although there have been rumors (wishful thinking, most likely) that there were some frontal nudes among those papers that the wife burned, nothing has ever turned up in the way of proof or pictures.

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  4. Long before the days of fluffing, I see.

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    1. Apparently. Complaints have been made about how the pubic hair didn't show up well in the final product. Seriously.

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    2. He looks great. A real living man..Hung the way most of us are, or perhaps natural shrinkage due to ambient temperature and situation. A full natural bush, that would look odd if fully rendered in a statue. Perhaps stylised curls, but with the meat and two veg smooth. I assume he shaved the rest for good definition. So good to see the real man.

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    3. Yes, "a real living man" says it all.

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  5. This is interesting. It has really bothered me that every picture of him had that HATED leaf. I always want to see penises when I look at pictures of nude men. I just discovered this site, and it is a good one.

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    1. Glad you enjoy the blog, and thanks for commenting.

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