Tom of Finland,The Artist

Tom of Finland is a pseudonym for the Finnish artist Touko Laaksonen. He was born on the eighth of May in 1920 and died on the seventh of November in 1991. His artistic style was most recognized for his depictions of fetish art and same sex erotic art. His art influenced gay culture in the late twentieth century and some historians have even named him the creator with the most influence ever on homosexual erotic imagery.

Touko Laaksonen, or Tom of Finland as he is best known, was born in Kaarina, which is a southwestern part of Finland close to Turku. He was born into a middle class family and moved to Helsinki, the capital of Finland, in 1939. There, he studied advertising and began drawing for recreation.

Artistic Influences of Tom of Finland

Tom of Finland  served in the army in 1940. He was drafted to join the Finnish army when the Winter War involving the USSR occurred and then eventually World War II. His role was to serve as an anti air craft officer where he was ranked as a second lieutenant. The drawings he had done around this time depicted erotic subject matter so he at first decided to hide them from others but later decided to destroy them when he had to serve. In 1945, after serving his country for five years, Tom of Finlandwent back home in order to study art and concentrate on his artworkIn his illustrations, the men depicted usually had exaggerated male features. For example, many of them had very muscular bodies and were well endowed. He was influenced by the image of masculine laborers that he had seen at a very early age. Also, he became influenced by the image of men in uniform after serving in the Finnish army and has credited the artwork of Etienne Quaintance as other influences.

He would often draw men in clothing that was partially removed or clothing that was very tight. He did this to show off their overly masculine bodily features, such as their muscles. Other than and George drawing one subject, his artwork often depicted two or more subjects. Typically, his art showed two men or sometimes more. Some of his work was sexually explicit and portrayed two men engaged in intercourse.

Tom of Finland Initial Works

His initial work was more explicit and highly sexualized. Later in his career, his work became more romantic looking and softer. The men in his later work had more toned down features and shapes. Also, his early work often depicted middle class men and his later work showed lower class men that were employed as Bikers,Lumberjacks,Seamen,Policemen and Firemen.

Overall, compared to his previous artwork, his later work was much more simple in composition and less dramatic. You can view Tom of Finland early sketches on this site

In 1956, he decided to send Physique Pictorial, a popular American magazine at the time, some of his artwork. Under the name Tom, his work was shown by the magazine in the spring of 1957. His work was also featured on the cover and one showed two men doing log driving work and another man in the background. This is when he began to work under the name Tom of Finland. Continue Reading Tom of Finland Part II

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