George Quaintance (June 3, 1902 – November 8, 1957) was an American artist, famous for his "idealized, strongly

homoerotic Homoeroticism is sexual attraction between members of the same sex, either male–male or female–female. The concept differs from the concept of homosexuality: it refers specifically to the desire itself, which can be temporary, whereas "homose ...

" depictions of men in mid-20th-century

physique magazines Physique magazines or beefcake magazines were magazines devoted to physique photography — that is, photographs of muscular "beefcake" men – typically young and attractive – in athletic poses, usually in revealing, minimal clothing. During t ...

.Quaintance, George (1902-1957) p.1
Using historical settings to justify the nudity or distance the subjects from modern society, his art featured idealized muscular, semi-nude or nude male figures;

Wild West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

settings were a common motif. His artwork helped establish the stereotype of the "macho stud" who was also homosexual, leading him to be called a "pioneer of a gay aesthetic". He was an influence on many later homoerotic artists, such as

Tom of Finland Touko Valio Laaksonen (8 May 1920 – 7 November 1991), pseudonym Tom of Finland, was a Finnish artist who made stylized highly masculinized homoerotic art, and influenced late 20th-century gay culture. He has been called the "most influential ...

Biography

George Quaintance was born in Page County, Virginia, to George H. and Ella Belle Quaintance, with an older sister Nannie. He grew up on a farm, displaying an aptitude for art. Even as a teen, Quaintance has been described as "obviously and actively homosexual", despite being

closeted ''Closeted'' and ''in the closet'' are metaphors for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and other (LGBTQ+) people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and human ...

. At the age of 18 he studied at the

Art Students League The Art Students League of New York is an art school at American Fine Arts Society, 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists ...

in New York City, where, as well as painting and drawing, he studied dance, which led to him meeting and briefly marrying Miriam Chester. In the 1930s, he became a

hairstylist A hairdresser is a person whose occupation is to cut or style hair in order to change or maintain a person's image. This is achieved using a combination of hair coloring, haircutting, and hair texturing techniques. A Hairdresser may also be ref ...

. His first art assignments were anonymous advertising work, but by 1934 he had begun to sell freelance cover illustrations to a variety of "spicy" pulp magazines, such as ''Gay French Life'', ''Ginger'', ''Movie Humor'', ''Movie Merry Go-Round'', ''Snappy Detective Mysteries'', ''Snappy Stories'', ''Stolen Sweets'', and ''Tempting Tales''. These were sold at burlesque halls as well as under-the-counter at discreet newsstands. These illustrations, which were clearly influenced by

Enoch Bolles Enoch Bolles (3 March 1883 – 16 March 1976) was an American painter of pin-up art. He was among the earliest and most widely circulated glamour illustrators. While known today solely as a pinup artist, Bolles was a versatile illustrator who ...

, were often signed "Geo. Quintana". In 1938, he returned home with his companion Victor Garcia, described as Quaintance's "model, life partner, and business associate", who was the subject of many of Quaintance's photographs in the 1940s. During that time he was art editor for Joe Bonomo, who published women's magazines such as ''Glorify Your Figure'', ''Beautify Your Figure'', and ''Your Figure Beautiful''. In 1951, Quaintance's art was used for the first cover of ''

Physique Pictorial ''Physique Pictorial'' is an American magazine, one of the leading beefcake magazines of the mid-20th century. During its run from 1951 to 1990 as a quarterly publication, it exemplified the use of bodybuilding culture and classical art figure pos ...

'', edited by

Bob Mizer Robert Henry Mizer (March 27, 1922 – May 12, 1992) was an American photographer and filmmaker, known for pushing boundaries of depicting male homoerotic content with his work in the mid 20th century. Biography Bob Mizer's earliest photographs ...

of the

Athletic Model Guild The Athletic Model Guild, or AMG, was a physique photography studio founded by Bob Mizer in December 1945. During those post-war years, United States censorship laws allowed women, but not men, to appear in various states of undress in what were ...

. His art would eventually be featured in a wide variety of physique magazines throughout the 1950s. In the early 1950s, Quaintance and Garcia moved to Rancho Siesta, in Phoenix, Arizona, which became the home of Studio Quaintance, a business venture based around Quaintance's artworks. In 1953, Quaintance completed a series of three paintings about a

matador A bullfighter (or matador) is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter and describe all the performers in the activit ...

, modeled by Angel Avila, another of his lovers. By 1956, the business had become so successful that Quaintance could not keep up with the demand for his works. Quaintance had a close connection with Randolph Benson and John Bullock, the cofounders of physique magazine ''

Grecian Guild Pictorial ''Grecian Guild Pictorial'' was an American physique magazine published from 1955 until 1968. While ostensibly dedicated to art, health, and exercise, like other physique magazines of the time, it was understood that, in practice, its homoerotic ...

''. He wrote a personal essay for the magazine's spring 1956 issue in which he provided a sketch of his life and career, and answered reader questions. Quaintance died of a heart attack on November 8, 1957.

Biography

References

Further reading