Art Bob 1

[mitchmen]

Art Bob was a popular gay artist in the 60s with an unmistakeable, playful style. He depicted young men enjoying life and getting into 'interesting' situations. I've never reviewed his work here before but have previously posted sample images, also more recently at the mitchmen account at BSkySocial.  

 

Art Bob - A Little Pull From A Buddy

 

Many of Art-Bob's images will be well known to my readers, so I'm starting this article with one of his less familiar ones. It shows a guy helping his dormitory buddy into a tight-fitting suit -  a diving or flying suit perhaps or, given the imagery on the walls, some sort of spacesuit. 

 

It's not exactly clear what he's doing to help, except that he's using a thread. The suit area below his foot shows cross-stitching and yet the suit seems to have a zip. Sewing it all up seems decidedly kinky. 

 

Even more surprising (for the 50s) is that his foot is placed firmly on his buddies' groin. You don't have to be familiar with foot fetish to perceive the erotic nature of this gesture, the recipient is clearly 'getting it', as it were! For the avoidance of doubt, rockets thrust skywards behind them 

 

The would-be astronaut is a typical example of the artist's usual fare of young and slightly gauche subjects, but his buddy is something else. Stubbled chin plus a hairy and muscular physique, complemented by a rare sight of Y-Front style, white underwear. Hunks like this pop up refreshingly in other pictures by Art Bob. 

 

The title is an example of Art Bob's humorous innuendo. It seems charmingly coy to us but was necessarily so in 1959 when this was published. Most of the images presented here were drawn in the 50s, an era of repression on both sides of the Atlantic. 

 

 

Art Bob - A Stitch In Time

This picture also has a sewing theme. Another hunky buddy helps to fix his (nervous) chum's jeans. The pithy title suggests it's a repair, but these look well past being fixed 'in time'. In the 50s, fashionable young men started to have their jeans altered to fit more tightly round the bum. The most professional technique involved unpicking the centre seam of the pants, like this, cutting away a 'dart', and then sewing it back up. 

 

Needless to say, few lads were accomplished sewers, but if they were lucky their mums or girlfriends would do it for them. Otherwise, they had to call on a 'best mate', whose expertise might be just as lacking as their own. Doing the alteration with the jeans still in place is a typically male solution to the problem of getting it as tight as possible. But it's not without risk, as the stick-on plaster shows.

 

Quite why the helpful friend is nearly naked for this task is a mystery, but who's complaining? His muscular body is clearly shaved below waist level. The 50s furnishings in the background are a delightful detail, not least because the artist's style exactly complements it. No modern home could be without a cheese plant back then. 

 

 

Ronald Wright - A Stitch In Time?

Art-Bob's 'stitch' was very well-received and was reproduced in a number of contemporary beefcake magazines. English artist Ronald Wright was so impressed with the idea that he made his own version, copying the original composition pretty much exactly, but dressing the characters differently and relocating it (bizarrely) to a sports locker room. It's not a patch on the original, but the deliberate reversal of the characterisations is quite interesting.

 

 

Art Bob - Just The Ticket

Buddy collaboration features in this image too. Two lads in a beach buggy are trying to talk a cop out of giving them a ticket. While the cop is distracted, another member of the party reaches out of the boot (US, trunk) to let down his tyres. You don't notice it at first because of the absurd perspective and distance. It's quite an artistic hand, feminine potentially. The passenger feigns innocence on both counts.

 

The characterisation of the cop is decidedly odd. Wearing a bow tie, tight shirt and sun shades that look as though they belong to a fashion model, he's not exactly the epitome of authority.  

 

Beyond the cartoon joke, the check shorts of the passenger are quite sexy and the flash on the driver's trunks hints at, yet disguises, suggestive shaping. In the distorted, visual vocabulary of the image the driver's hand appears to be nudging the cop's groin, possibly grasping something - and the cop seems to have noticed. The hidden eroticism of the time (see label at foot of post for more).

 

 

Art Bob - The Rescue 1

 

Still at the Seaside, a young man strips off on a jetty to rescue a drowning man. He's not wearing any underwear which only underlines his heroism, putting himself in double jeopardy!

 

The artist has gone over the top with wide-eyed boyishness which doesn't gel at all with the mature, hairy muscularity of the character's physique. However, there's a nice sense of urgency in his improbably confused undressing and off-balance pose. The grasping hand projecting from the water is masterly. 

 

 

Art Bob - The Rescue 2

In the sequel, we see a handsome, young man being dragged from the water by his rescuer, whose concerned face now shows rather more maturity. His discarded clothes can be seen on the jetty in both pictures, the sketchy style seeming to morph them into fishing nets! 

 

The water ripples are delightfully stylish. The lower legs visible beneath them don't reflect reality, in contrast to the hand in the previous picture. That might simply reflect hasty sketching, but there's a modernist argument for showing something that's there, even if you can't see it. You can compare Art-Bob's depiction of dripping water with Tom of Finland's below.

 

Art Bob produced a number of diptychs like this, but these images are a far cry from his usual frivolity and whimsy.
 

 

Tom of Finland - Sailor Rescued From Drowning 1

 

Tom Of Finland's 1963 mini story about a drowning sailor rescued by a biker may have been inspired by this couplet. It's equally brief.

 

Tom of Finland - Sailor Rescued From Drowning 2

 

Interestingly, Tom's and Art-Bob's images interleave rather well to produce a more complete storyline, despite the disparity in technique and dress. Both seem to have decided it would be prudent not to attempt to show the moment where the two men come together in the water.

 

There may be more images in Tom's story, he usually did sets of six around this time, but if he did, I don't have them. 

 

 

Art Bob - Down The Road A-Piece

 

The final picture shows two sailors who also need rescuing. They seem to be stranded in the desert with their kitbags and an empty fuel can. A cowboy is gleefully directing them to the nearest gas station - which is clearly miles away! Little wonder they both look so downcast and dismayed. 

 

The cowboy seems to have his horse with him, the reins are in his hand, but he doesn't seem to be offering to help, perhaps he wants to enjoy their predicament for a while, as do we. 

 

Perhaps his offer of help comes with conditions and he's pointing out the unpalatable alternative. He's dressed pretty provocatively for that species and there's a telltale handkerchief in his back pocket which they haven't seen yet.  

 

I love the depiction of the sailors in this picture - both the butch seated one and the boyish doll-like one on the left. This artist shows his understanding of the sexiness of tight sailor's outfits and mangled caps. His depiction of them can't be faulted. Which is why I posted it previously in the In Praise of Sailors series.

 

More Art-Bob next time