He died in 1991 of an emphysema-induced stroke. As result, he switched from pencils to pastels as detailed work was no longer possible. The disease and medication caused his hands to tremble. And Laaksonen was diagnosed with emphysema in 1988. Sadly, his lover Veli died of throat cancer in 1981. Tom exhibited his work in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York. In particular the gay photographer Robert Mapplethorpe was an early supporter. Moreover, he was attracting attention from the serious art world. His characters were now openly having sex. He later joked: ‘Since then I’ve lived in jeans and lived on my drawings.’ A loving couple by Tom. From then he concentrated on publishing erotic comic books. So it wasn’t until 1973 that he gave up his job at leading international ad agency McCann-Erickson. But neither erotic art nor homosexual art paid very well at first. Tom called them his ‘dirty drawings’ and they were proving popular. Tom’s men became more sexual as time went on. The bulges in his men’s pants became as prominent as the bulges in their muscles. They spend the next 28 years together.Īs attitudes and law changed in the 1960s, Tom was able to be more explicit. Tom of FinlandĪfter the war, he returned to his studies but kept drawing. The whole Nazi philosophy, the racism and all that, is hateful to me, but of course I drew them anyway – they had the sexiest uniforms!’ Two of Tom’s men. I am thinking only about the picture itself.
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‘In my drawings I have no political statements to make, no ideology. They would later inspire his militaristic illustrations.īut while he was fascinated by their bodies, he didn’t agree with their politics. In the pitch black city, he started having the sex he’d dreamed of with these men in uniforms. Naturally, 20-something Tom had plenty of opportunities to see uniformed men up close. He served as an anti-aircraft officer, holding the rank of second lieutenant.ĭuring the war, German Wehrmacht soldiers served in Finland. At that point, he destroyed his early illustrations. Soon Finland entered World War II and Laaksonen became a conscript in the Finnish Army in February 1940.
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But in his spare time he loved drawing erotic images of male laborers, although he kept them secret. Laaksonen was born on in Kaarina, a town in southwestern Finland, near the city of Turku.Īged 19, he moved to Helsinki, Finland’s capital, to study advertising. Portrait of Tom of Finland wearing an outfit he has become famous for. But more importantly we are sharing just a few of his 3,500 illustrations to let his art speak for itself. Here’s our quick guide to Touko Valio Laaksonen – better known as Tom of Finland. Moreover, he was an early champion of LGBT+ freedom himself. Critics have attacked both his positive depictions of men in Nazi uniforms and the implication that the unrealistic bodies he portrays are something gay and bi men should strive for.ĭespite this, he played a huge role in making gay and bi people proud of their identities. Tom of Finland’s influence on gay male culture is as dominant as one of his muscular models. Tomorrow marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Tom of Finland – the illustrator who defined an idealistic gay body for a generation of men.