My favorite on intellectual grounds is Outlaw Representation: Censorship and Homosexuality in Twentieth-Century American Art by Caucus member Richard Meyer. For sensual beauty, however, the Paul Cadmus book is a delight. Known for his paintings, drawings, and photo-collaborations, Cadmus (1904-1999) here records the specifics of men’s bodies, often drawn in black and white on hand-toned paper. The introductory text includes George Platt Lynes’ 1938 photographs of Cadmus and his lover, painter Jared French, and historically situates Cadmus’s work within photographic and painting traditions. Outlaw Representation. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002, 376 pp., $35.00 hardcover, ISBN 0-19-510760-8. Paul Cadmus: The Male Nude, by Justin Spring. New York: Universe Publishing, 2002, 176 pp., $49.95, ISBN: 0-7893-0589-5.
Thomas Waugh produces a fascinating read out of hot graphic images through use of historical, biographical, and narrative details in Out/Lines: Underground Gay Graphics from Before Stonewall. About Mike Miksche, along with pseudonyms and birth and death dates, Waugh writes that, “Jerry Rosco, biographer of Miksche’s one-time boyfriend Glenway Wescott, paints him vividly as an Air Force veteran, bisexual sadist, crewcut muscular giant, and Dr. Kinsey’s research collaborator, who starred in one of the doctor’s sex films with masochist Sam Steward.” If you haven’t yet read it, I also recommend Waugh’s Gay Male Eroticism in Photography and Film from Their Beginnings to Stonewall (Columbia, 1996). Out/Lines. Vancouver, B.C.: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2002, 296 pp., $19.95 U.S., $26.95 Canada, ISBN 1-55152-123-7.
Tom Bianchi's color photographs in On the Couch -- Volume One show men, individually, in pairs, or threesomes, undressing, displaying their bodies, or engaging in sexual activities. With a cheerful seductiveness, the images encourage a narrative voyeurism that connects the sex, the tasteful surroundings and the frequently present vases of flowers. Berlin: Bruno Gmünder Verlag, 2002, 120 pp., $39.00, ISBN 3-86187-239-0.
The primary focus of A Hidden Love: Art and Homosexuality by Dominique Fernandez is male-male sexual imagery from Greek Antiquity to the present. A handsome volume, lushly produced, it deals with homosexual themes (St. Sebastian, wrestlers) and historical periods, with a text that is personable, accessible, and informative. Some lesbian material is included, most by male artists from the nineteenth- and early twentieth-centuries. New York: Prestel, 2002, 230 pp., $75.00 hardcover, ISBN 3-7913-2704-6.
And the Lammy winner was ... A Hidden Love: Art and Homosexuality by Dominique Fernandez.
Many of you at the CAA conference in NYC had a chance to see Homosexuality in Art by James Smalls, which we will give more coverage elsewhere. James, a past co-chair of the Queer Caucus, is to be commended for this lovely and informative volume. Works of art from antiquity to the Postmodern era, China, Japan, and Islamic societies are discussed. Of special interest is “1700-1900: Towards a Homosexual Identity” and the rare three-quarter length photo of “Thelma Wood” by Berenice Abbott. Wood was a former lover of Abbott’s and, at the time the photograph was taken, was involved with Djuna Barnes. New York: Parkstone Press, 2003, 101 pp., $55.00 hardcover, ISBN 1-85995-865-6, order from Whitehurst & Clark Book Fulfilment Inc., Raritan Industrial Park, 100 Newfield Ave, Edison, NJ 08837.
Although there are some excellent pieces in The Feminism and Visual Culture Reader, ed. by Amelia Jones, the overall portrayal of lesbians and lesbian art issues in it is so unbalanced, unintegrated, and undercontextualized that I find I cannot recommend this book. For example, lesbian art history is represented by a brief, 1978 essay by Harmony Hammond that starts out, “What can I tell you except the truth? We do not have a history. We are not even visible to each other.” In the quarter century since this was written, much has been published about lesbian art and artist, but that richness is not visible in The Feminism and Visual Culture Reader. I hope this is an oversight that will be remedied in the next edition. New York: Routledge, 2003, 560 pp, $29.95 paperback, ISBN 0-415-26706-4.
I am immediately ready to love any book that has twenty-one entries under the index category “radical/lesbian Chicana feminism” as does Exhibiting Mestizaje: Mexican (American) Museums in the Diaspora by Karen Mary Davalos. With a great front cover image by lesbian artist Ester Hernandez (1944-) and chapters titled “Containing the Sacred, Savage, and Salvaged,” “From Coherence to Mestizaje: Chicano Nationalism and Radical/Lesbian Chicana Feminism” and more, Exhibiting Mestizaje is an exploration of social situations, institution formation, and aesthetic issues. Gay male artist David Zamora Casas (1960-) and bisexual Carlos Almaraz (1941-1989) are mentioned and the transgender style of the Los Angeles-based art group Asco is discussed. Davalos’ analysis of lesbian photographer Laura Aguilar’s self-portrait “Three Eagles Flying” is complex and powerful. Albuquerque: U. of New Mexico Press, 2003, 272 pp., $21.95 paperback, ISBN 0-8263-1900-9.
Brazen Femme: Queering Femininity, ed. by Chloë Brushwood Rose and Anna Camilleri, is a literary collection with a few delightfully gender-bending photographs by Daniel Collins, “Fat is a Femme-inine Issue” cartoon by Suzy Malik and Zoe Whittall, Sandi Rapini’s “Adventures with Zenith and Ariel” cartoon (includes Pussy Palace and others), and more. Many of the contributors are Canadian. Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2002, 176 pp., $16.95 US, $21.95 Canada, paperback, ISBN 1-55152-126-1.
Everywhere I dipped into In a Queer Country: Gay & Lesbian Studies in The Canadian Context, ed. by Terry Goldie, I found the quality and clarity of the discussion engaging. Some favorites are: “Buller Men and Batty Bwoys: Hidden Men in Toronto and Halifax Black Communities”; “Siting Lesbians: Urban Spaces and Sexuality”; ”"Can You See the Difference?: Queering the Nation, Ethnicity, Festival, and Culture in Winnipeg”; and “The Elephant, the Mouse, and the Lesbian National Park Rangers.” Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2001, 313 pp., $19.95 US, $23.95 Canada, paperback, ISBN 1-55152-105-9.
What I like about Other Conundrums: Race, Culture, and Canadian Art by Monika Kin Gagnon are discussions of work by gay and lesbian artists (Richard Fung, Shani Mootoo) and mention of others (A.A. Bronson, Lynne Fernie). However, I wish their queerness was more present in the essays. Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2000, 195 pp., $18.95 US, $21.95 Canada, paperback, ISBN 1-55152-092-3.
Screened Out: Playing Gay in Hollywood from Edison to Stonewall by Richard Barrios is packed with information and delightful to read. Take it on your vacation (or to bed) and allow yourself to be entertained. New York: Routledge, 2003, 402 pp., $29.95 hardcover, ISBN 0-415-92328-X.
Of special interest in Women Making Art: History, Subjectivity, Aesthetics by Marsha Meskimmon is “Performativity: desire and the inscribed body” which includes an extended discussion of work by lesbian photographers Claude Cahun (1894-1954) and Rosy Martin (1946-). There are great bibliographic notations, but the inadequate index is both perplexing and vexing. London and New York: Routledge, 2003, 225 pp., $23.95 paperback, ISBN 0-415-24278-9.
Crossing the Line: Photographs by Sara Davidmann is a full-color presentation of London-based transsexuals, transvestites, and drag artists. Taken over a three-year period, the images include candid and staged shots with an upbeat, highly individualized feeling. Davidmann gives a description of her involvement with the cross-dressers, and some text by the subjects is included, but not nearly as much as I would have liked. Stockport, England: Dewi Lewis Publishing: 2003, 96 pp., $28.00 hardback, ISBN 1-899235-39-6, dist. in U.S. and Canada by Consortium.
The first half of Gender Nonconformity, Race, and Sexuality: Charting the Connections, edited by Toni Lester, focuses on “Defining and Policing the Boundaries of Gender.” The second half deals with “The Aesthetics and Representation of Gender Nonconformity” including a chapter on Claude Cahun (lesbian photographer) and Lee Miller (heterosexual photographer and Man Ray's lover). There are also memorable photographs by lesbian photographer Laura Wulf, among others. Madison, WI: The U. of Wisconsin Press, 2003, 232 pp., $24.95 paperback, ISBN 0-299-18144-8; $50.00 hardcover, ISBN 0-299-18140-5.
Marsden Hartley (1877-1943), who struggled financially and for recognition throughout his life, is well-served in Marsden Hartley, ed. by Elizabeth Mankin Kornhauser, in which his achievements are interwoven with his wanderings and conflicted homosexuality. Includes a detailed chronology and chapters on Berlin, Provincetown, self-portraiture, New England Regionalism, materials and working methods, “Encoding the Homoerotic: Marsden Hartley’s Late Figure Paintings,” and Jonathan Weinberg on Hartley’s writing on painting. Great photographs and art reproductions. New Haven: Yale, 2002, 352 pp., $55.00 hardcover, ISBN 0-300-09767-0.
A lovely gift book, Spirit Taking Form: Making a Spiritual Practice of Making Art by Nancy Azara (b. 1939) -- a longtime feminist art activist -- includes inspirational sections, meditations, and exercises. Boston and York Beach, ME: Red Wheel, 2002, $18.95 paperback, ISBN 1-59003-016-8, www.redwheelweiser.com
Two books about Agnes Martin, dist. by D.A.P., Distributed Art Publishers
Who’s Who in Gay & Lesbian History From Antiquity to World War II (502 pp., ISBN 0-415-15983-0) and Who’s Who in Contemporary Gay & Lesbian History From World War II to the Present Day (460 pp., ISBN 0415-29161-5) include an international collection of figures (mostly men) from the arts, politics, science, and religion. Of the thirty-eight contemporary artists listed (filmmakers and architects are not included in this count), five are women. London and New York: Routledge, 2001, $14.95 each, paperback.
Singular Women: Writing The Artist, ed. by Kristen Frederickson and Sarah E. Webb includes “Designing Woman: Writing about Eleanor Raymond” by Nancy Gruskin. Raymond (1887-1980) practiced architecture in Boston and enjoyed a fifty-four-year relationship with House Beautiful editor Ethel Power. In lucid prose, Gruskin discusses the issues she encountered and choices made in connecting Raymond’s life and work. Brief mention is made of lesbian painter Jessie Willcox Smith (1863-1935), contemporary lesbian critic Laura Cottingham (1958-). The fascinating essay on the probably asexual Florine Stettheimer (1871-1944) includes a nude self-portrait. Berkeley: University of California Press, $24.95 (£17.95) paperback, ISBN 0-520-23165-1; $65.00 (£45.00) hardcover, ISBN 0-520-23164-3.
The authors’ dual careers in psychology shape Intimate Creativity: Partners in Love and Art by Irving and Suzanne Sarnoff. The book weaves together interviews with ten creative duos including a lesbian couple (Kathleen Sterck and Terry Rozo) and two gay male pairs (Anthony Aziz and Sammy Cucher, Gilbert and George). The work of collaborative painters (and lovers) Charles Ricketts (1866-1931) and Charles Shannon (1863-1937) is part of the book’s historical grounding. Madison, WI: U of Wisconsin Press, 2002, 255 pp., $19.95 paperback, ISBN 0-299-18054-9; $39.95 hardcover, ISBN 0-299-18050-6.
Future Present: Autobiographical Ramblings from the Little Man in the Boat by Morgan Burton Johnson is a self-published book of paintings, poems, and narratives about the artist’s life and the paintings. Burton (1952-), openly gay and self-revealing in the text, includes portraits, landscapes, still lives and figure paintings. A major relationship and its loss from AIDS is dealt with in words and pictures. Xlibris, 2002, 70 pp., $24.99 paperback, ISBN 1-4010-6929-0, www2.xlibris.com/
African American Art and Artists, Revised and Expanded Edition, by Samella Lewis includes entries on gay painters Richmond Barthé (1901-1989) and Beauford Delaney, painter (1901-1979). Berkeley: U. of California Press, 2003, 340 pp., $29.95 (£19.95) paperback, ISBN 0-520-23935-0; $65.00 (£45.00) hardcover, ISBN 0-520-23929-6.
The name Yve Lomax (1952-) first entered my “lesbian artists” database via Emmanuel Cooper’s The Sexual Perspective: Homosexuality and Art in the Last 100 Years in the West (Routledge, 1986). Her name emerged again in a recent CAA Art Journal (Vol. 62, #1) review of her book Writing the Image: An Adventure with Art and Theory (with contributions by Irit Rogoff). Although the word “autobiographical” is used in reference to the work, nothing in the review would indicate that there is lesbian content in the book. If any of you read it, do let us know. London: I.B. Tauris, 2000, 238 pp., $24.50, ISBN 1-86064-474-0.
*NEW IN PAPER* The essay most relevant to queer issues in Gustave Caillebotte and the Fashioning of Identity in Impressionist Paris, ed. by Norma Broude, is “Outing Impressionism: Homosexuality and Homosocial Bonding in the work of Caillebotte and Bazille.” However, all of the essays on Caillebotte (1848-1894), the many and interestingly juxtaposed illustrations, and the excellent index contribute to the richness of this book. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers, 2002, 233 pp., $35.00 paperback, ISBN 0-8135-3018-0; $ 70.00 hardcover, ISBN 0-8135-3017-2.
*NEW IN PAPER* Mary Colter: Architect of the Southwest by Arnold Berke does not discuss Colter’s lesbianism (and I’m not sure it appears anywhere in print), but I remember the publisher’s representative for an earlier book about Colter saying, “Of course she was a lesbian.” I would like to see a more rounded presentation of her life. Colter (1869-1958) designed unusual railroad stations and hotels for the Fred Harvey Company for forty-six years. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2002, 319 pp., $24.95 paperback, ISBN 1-56898-345-X, dist. by Chronicle Books.
Lesbian artists discussed in Women Artists of the American West, ed. by Susan R. Ressler, include Kim Anno, Bernice Bing, Barbara Bruch, Laura Gilpin, Amana Johnson, Nancy Macko, Agnes Martin, and thirty-two contemporary photographers. The latter are in my essay “Lesbian Photography on the U.S. West Coast, 1970-2000.” For teaching purposes, the website (which preceded the book) www.sla.purdue.edu/WAAW/Corinne/index.html is a valuable additional resource. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., Inc., 2003, 400 pp., $75 hardcover, ISBN 0-7864-1054-X.
Of interest, although I haven’t seen it, is Journey Without End: The Life and Art of Lawrence Calcagno, available for $40 postpaid (softbound) from Canfield Gallery, Santa Fe.
Additional note: Insurgent muse: life and art at the Woman’s Building by Terry Wolverton (San Francisco: City Lights Books, 2002) was the recipient of the Judy Grahn Award for Lesbian Nonfiction, one of the Ferro Grumley Literary Awards presented by the Publishing Triangle on May 8 at New School University, New York.