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Tom of Finland

Untitled

Maker

Tom of Finland (Finnish, 1920-1991)

Title

Untitled

Year

1988

Medium

  • Graphite on paper

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • Graphite on paper

Materials

graphite

Supports

  • paper

Dimensions

Image: 21 x 29.5 cm (8 1/4 x 11 5/8 inches)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Hudson

Object Number

2009.52.3

Type

  • Drawings and Watercolors

Exhibition History

Any distance between us
Jul 17, 2021 – Mar 13, 2022

Label copy

“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!”

-Tom of Finland, date unknown

This drawing is emblematic of Tom of Finland’s comic-book-like representations of explicit sex between gay men. Significantly, this particular image includes figures wearing condoms-a profound political statement in the 1980s, when countless numbers of men, including artists in this exhibition, were dying of AIDS-related diseases transmitted through unprotected sex. Given the broad distribution of Tom of Finland’s images in various publications at the time, this work functioned as a kind of public-service announcement recommending safe-sex practices.

Image use

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In copyright This object is in copyright

Tombstone

Tom of Finland (Finnish, 1920-1991)
Untitled, 1988
Graphite on paper
Image: 21 x 29.5 cm (8 1/4 x 11 5/8 inches)
Gift of Hudson 2009.52.3

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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