- Born
- Died
- Birth nameTouko Laaksonen
- Height6′ 5″ (1.96 m)
- Tom of Finland was born on May 8, 1920 in Finland. He is known for No Straight Lines: The Rise of Queer Comics (2021), Independent Lens (1999) and Daddy and the Muscle Academy (1991). He died on November 7, 1991 in Helsinki, Finland.
- His work was first published in the magazine Physique Pictorial in Spring 1957. Despide his steady growth in popularity from there on, his first public exhibition did not occur until 1973, in Hamburg, Germany.
- Pioneering erotic artist and gay icon. He is widely believed to be the first gay artist to steer away from effeminate characters and focus his art on images of strong and masculine men.
- The work of Tom of Finland will go on view at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles alongside the works of fellow gay gamechanger Robert Henry Mizer's (as Bob Mizer) Physique Pictorial Magazine from November 2, 2013 - January 26, 2014 (MOCA Pacific Design Center).
- His friend and business partner Durk Dehner still lives (as of 2014) in the house they shared in Los Angeles.
- My whole life long I have done nothing but interpret my dreams of ultimate masculinity, and draw them.
- In those days, a gay man was made to feel nothing but shame about his feelings and his sexuality. I wanted my drawings to counteract that, to show gay men being happy and positive about who they were. Oh, I didn't sit down to think this all out carefully. But I knew - right from the start - that my men were going to be proud and happy men!
- I almost never draw a completely naked man. He has to have at least a pair of boots or something on. To me, a fully dressed man is more erotic than a naked one. A naked man is, of course beautiful, but dress him in black leather or a uniform - ah, then he is more than beautiful, then he is sexy!
- "My drawings are primarily meant for guys who may have experienced misunderstanding and oppression and feel that they have somehow failed in their lives. I want to encourage them. I want to encourage this minority group, to tell them not to give up, to think positively about their act and whole being." (1990)
- I work very hard to make sure that the men I draw having sex are proud men having happy sex!
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