Zaro

This image of Zaro Rossi is the first of two in today's series where subtlety takes 

precedence over dramatic contrast.  There's a mystery to this one that makes it special.

 

Zaro for Mike P.

I immediately thought of Mike P. in New Jersey when I found this Dave Martin photo of Zaro Rossi with a chain.  Mike is a big fan of Zaro . . . or just about any good looking Italian, lol.

 

I made this composite to show how there could be three versions of any given George Quaintance painting.  He almost always drew or painted his models fully nude for an enhanced sense of realism, only to later paint in clothes or another sort of cover on the final version, as in this set modeled by Zaro Rossi.  Most of the time, clothing of various sorts was used, resulting in some realistic bulges and outlines.  When he first began to sell mass produced copies of his work, color reproduction was so expensive that he distributed black and white versions of his paintings.  This black and white full nude of Rossi is rare, and was probably never commercially distributed.

 

In addition to the fact that this is a typically good George Quaintance painting, Lake Apache has two interesting features.  First, the blond cowboy (and a number of  blond cowboys in other Quaintance paintings) is based on the artist himself.  In fact, as he aged and lost his hair, he became known for wearing blond wigs to maintain the look.  Second, the other cowboy was Zaro Rossi.

 

This whole series got instigated when Mike P.'s request for a Zaro Rossi day let me down a path to Quaintance.  So it's only appropriate to end it with a rare Quaintance color shot of Zaro.

Thanks for the inspiration, Mike!

 

Mike P.'s Favorite - Zaro Rossi

Loyal blog follower and Italian-American, Mike P., suggested I do a feature on another 

Italian-American, Zaro Rossi, 1934-2005.  After serving in the U.S. Air Force during 

the Korean War, Zaro returned to his home in the Los Angeles area and took up bodybuilding.  

It wasn't long before he came to the attention of at least two important figures in physique 

photography, George Quaintance and Dave Martin.  Zaro shuttled for a time between L.A. 

and Phoenix where Quaintance had relocated before marrying and working several years managing fitness centers in the South Central USA.  He eventually settled back in Arizona and 

moved his parents there.  We begin the series with this photo by Dave Martin.

 

Zaro made the cover of Vim Magazine at some point.  Photographer is unknown.

 

This may be my favorite photo of Zaro Rossi, and it's by Dave Martin.  

The lighting and pose are both excellent.

 

I'm posting this photo from the Joshua Tree National Monument despite the poor focus in hope that someone can identify the photographer and perhaps even provide a better version.  Bruce of LA was known to work in that area, but I think Bob Mizer may have, too.  Anyone know?

 

It took me a while to figure out that streak at the left of this photo, but I think it is a crease in a book or magazine that got into the scan.  The picture is attributed to Dave Martin.

 

Although he was a fine studio photographer, it was outdoors where Dave Martin made his mark.  

I really like both the composition and lighting of this photo of Zaro Rossi on a log.

 

Dave Martin posed Mr. Rossi in a somewhat unconventional, 

but effective, manner in this very good studio shot.

 

Zaro Rossi is well documented to have posed for gay artist and entrepreneur George Quaintance.  In fact there is a lingering story that Zaro and some of Quaintance's other models actually broke into Quaintance's Phoenix area house, Rancho Siesta, after his death to get some photos of themselves at a wild party which were incriminating under the laws of the time.  When I first saw this photo of Rossi, I was skeptical it was Quaintance's  at first.  Then I noticed the trademark Indian blanket he is standing on, and then a few days later, I took another look at the art piece which follows in today's series.  

 

It's not hard at all to see the direct "translation" of the photo in the 

preceding image of this series into this Quaintance painting.

I used it in an earlier series to compare a photo of the horizontal model.

 

This well oiled nude of Zaro Rossi is attributed by some experts

 to George Quaintance and listed by others as "unknown."

 

This is another George Quaintance art work widely believed to have used Zaro Rossi as a 

model.  It is a good example of how Quaintance did an initial full frontal nude sketch as the 

basis for a cleverly painted over final version to avoid legal problems.  Stay tuned, viewers,

 and be sure to see Friday's special art day series with a lot more of Quaintance's work.