Pictures and Passions: A History of Homosexuality in the Visual Arts

The first complete history of gay and lesbian visual expression in all media, from the dawn of time to the present day--massive, fascinating, beautiful

As spectacular in its appearance as in its depth and range-- encompassing works of all genres in all ages on gay themes, by gay artists, or for gay patrons--Pictures and Passions supersedes more narrowly focused studies. Following an Introduction that discusses the sexual and artistic practices of prehistoric and early societies, Pictures and Passions examines the classical world's visual celebration of homoerotic love and how its status among the Greeks permeated later civilizations as an emblem of lost Arcadian ideals. The pictorial denigration and satire of the Middle Ages give way to the dawning tolerance of male beauty and affection in the Renaissance, then to eighteenth- and nineteenth-century economic and social transitions that stimulated the emergence of modern homosexual identity and cultural institutions, and finally to the flowering of modern homosexual art.

Throughout, gay and lesbian art and experience are seen in a broad context that includes non-Western cultures (with an entire chapter on Asia and Islam); traditional media such as painting, sculpture, architecture, and graphics; and modern commercial and mass media such as magazines, photography, and advertising. Pictures and Passions is a groundbreaking work of nuanced scholarship in a lucid and engaging idiom that will appeal to general readers, students, artists, and sophisticated gift givers.