Strung Out on Jargon

TASCHEN’s Tom of Finland XXL

March 03rd, 2009 | Category: gay history

Bigger is indeed better, here it is the complete life and work of the artist Tom of Finland (Touko Laaksonen), Tom of Finland XXL is fresh off the press from Taschen. With dimensions of 29 by 40.5cm and 666 pages, Tom of Finland XXL contains over 1,000 images, covering six decades of the artist’s career, complete with eight specially commissioned essays on Tom’s social and personal impact by Camille Paglia, John Waters, Armistead Maupin, Todd Oldham, and others, plus a scholarly analysis of individual drawings by art historian Edward Lucie-Smith. This title is not to be confused with The Art of Pleasure which gave Tom some well-deserved recognition and increased his following exponentially.

For this title, the work was gathered from all known collections across the US and Europe with the help of the Tom of Finland Foundation and features many drawings, paintings and preparatory sketches that have never been reproduced in any book. Other images have only been seen out of context and will be presented here in the sequential order Tom intended for full artistic appreciation and erotic impact. This elegant oversized volume will showcase the full range of Tom’s talent, from sensitive portraits to frank sexual pleasure to tender expressions of love and Tom’s haunting tributes to young men struck down by the AIDS epidemic. Hardcover, 29 x 40.5 cm (11.4 x 15.9 in.), 666 pages, $ 200.00.

7 comments

7 Comments so far

  1. John Ozed March 3rd, 2009 7:08 pm

    Ha! Looks great but at $200 it’s out of my reach. Still I will check to see if the public library will get it..

    Imagine the fun the freepers will have when they see it’s 666 pages!

  2. Jocko March 3rd, 2009 7:29 pm

    I thought that 666 was pretty funny too, that was on purpose!

  3. Castigator March 4th, 2009 12:53 pm

    Why didn’t they have a leatherman write an essay about Tom of Finland? Non-scene looky loos can’t possibly understand his importance in the development of Homomasculine identity.

  4. Jocko March 4th, 2009 1:57 pm

    As essay from Jack Fritscher would have been great!

  5. Father Tony March 4th, 2009 7:56 pm

    Wait a minute! We already have the complete Tom of Finland. Had it for maybe 10 years? Raised many an eyebrow on the bookshelf. This is like one of those greatest hits albums where they just change one song. Who needs the essays. Get the original one. It’s flawless. And cheaper.
    PS: Ours is not for sale.

  6. Jocko March 4th, 2009 8:14 pm

    HA! That’s great, I agree it is quite flawless, and sure, I probably could do without the essays, but you might want to lay out the 200 bucks if you’re a source material freak, this one has drawings, paintings and preparatory sketches that have never been reproduced in any book.

  7. russ March 5th, 2009 5:30 am

    Just checked amazon.com – it will sell for $126, and is available April 1.