View source for Tom of Finland

{{Short description|Finnish artist (1920–1991)}}
{{for|the biographical film|Tom of Finland (film){{!}}''Tom of Finland'' (film)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}

{{Use American English|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox artist
| name          = Tom of Finland
| image         = File:Touko-Laaksonen-1959.jpg
| alt           = 
| caption       = Laaksonen {{circa}} 1959
| birth_name    = Touko Valio Laaksonen
| birth_date    = 8 May 1920
| birth_place   = [[Kaarina]], Finland
| death_date    = {{death date and age|df=yes|1991|11|7|1920|5|8}}
| death_place   = [[Helsinki]], Finland
| notable_works = ''[[Kake (comics)|Kake]]''
| movement      = 
| awards        = Puupäähattu Prize ([[Finnish Comics Society|The Finnish Comics Society]], 1990),<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://sarjakuvaseura.fi/fi/suomen-sarjakuvaseura-ry/puupaahattu/62-1990-touko-laaksonen-tom-of-finland |title=Suomen sarjakuvaseura ry - 1990: Touko Laaksonen - Tom of Finland |website=The Finnish Comics Society |language=fi |access-date=19 January 2019}}</ref>
| patrons       = 
| website       = {{url|http://www.tomoffinland.org/}}
| bgcolour      = 
| imagesize     = 
| field         = Erotic illustration
| training      = 
| works         = 
| influenced by = 
| influenced    = 
| module        = {{Infobox person | child = yes | signature = Tom-of-Finland-signature.jpg}}
}}

'''Touko Valio Laaksonen''' (8 May 1920 – 7 November 1991), known by the pseudonym '''Tom of Finland''', was a [[Finnish people|Finnish]] artist who made stylized [[Hypermasculinity|highly masculinized]] [[Homoeroticism|homoerotic]] [[Erotic art|art]], and influenced late 20th-century [[gay culture]]. He has been called the "most influential creator of [[Gay pornography|gay pornographic images]]" by cultural historian Joseph W. Slade.<ref name="PASR">Slade, Joseph W.: [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZaGTZySRzeYC Pornography and Sexual Representation: A Reference Guide, Volume 2.] Pp. 545–546. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001. {{ISBN|0-313-27568-8}}</ref> Over the course of four decades, he produced some 3,500 illustrations, mostly featuring men with exaggerated sex traits, wearing tight or partially removed clothing.

==Early life==
Laaksonen was born on 8 May 1920 and raised by a middle-class family in [[Kaarina]], a town in southwestern [[Finland]], near the city of [[Turku]].<ref name="Löfström, pp. 189">Löfström, pp. 189.</ref> Both of his parents Suoma and Edwin Laaksonen were schoolteachers at the grammar school that served Kaarina. The family lived in the school building's attached living quarters.<ref>Hooven 1993, p. 3.</ref>

He went to school in Turku and in 1939, at the age of 19, he moved to [[Helsinki]] to study advertising. In his spare time he also started drawing [[Erotic art|erotic images]] for his own pleasure,<ref name="Löfström, pp. 189"/> based on images of male laborers he had seen from an early age. At first he kept these drawings hidden, but then destroyed them "at least by the time I went to serve the army."<ref>Arell & Mustola, p. 15.</ref> The country became embroiled in the [[Winter War]] with the [[Soviet Union]], and then became formally involved in [[World War II]], and he was conscripted in February 1940 into the [[Finnish Army]].<ref name="Löfström, pp. 189"/> He served as an anti-aircraft officer, holding the rank of second lieutenant.<ref name="Tom of Finland: A Short Biography">{{cite web |url=https://www.tomoffinland.org/about-tom-of-finland/ |title=Tom of Finland: A Short Biography |website=Tom of Finland Foundation |access-date=6 March 2017}}</ref> He later attributed his [[Sexual fetishism|fetishistic interest]] in uniformed men to encounters with men in army uniform, especially soldiers of the German [[Wehrmacht]] serving in Finland at that time. "In my drawings I have no political statements to make, no ideology. I am thinking only about the picture itself. The whole [[Nazism|Nazi philosophy]], the racism and all that, is hateful to me, but of course I drew them anyway—they had the sexiest uniforms!"<ref name=Valentine>Hooven 1993, p. 30.</ref> After the war, in 1945, he returned to studies.<ref name="Löfström, pp. 189"/>

Laaksonen's artwork of this period compared to later works is considered more romantic and softer with "gentle-featured shapes and forms".<ref name="Löfström, pp. 189"/> The men featured were [[middle-class]], as opposed to the sailors, bikers, lumberjacks, construction workers, and other members of stereotypically hypermasculine [[working class]] groups that feature in his later work.<ref name="Löfström, pp. 189"/> Another key difference is the lack of dramatic compositions, self-assertive poses, muscular bodies, and "detached exotic settings" that his later work embodied.<ref name="Löfström, pp. 189"/>

==Career==
[[File:Physique Pictorial Vol 12 No 3.pdf|thumb|A Tom of Finland drawing on the cover of a 1963 issue of ''[[Physique Pictorial]]''.]]In 1956 Laaksonen submitted drawings to the influential American magazine ''[[Physique Pictorial]]'', which premiered the images in the 1957 Spring issue under the pseudonym ''Tom'', as it resembled his given name ''Touko''. In the Winter issue later that year, editor [[Bob Mizer]] coined the credit ''Tom of Finland''.<ref>Arell & Mustola, p. 31. This followed the naming conventions of the magazine. Other pseudonyms of the time were ''Bruce of Los Angeles'' and ''Spartan of Hollywood'', for example.</ref> One of his pieces was featured on the Spring 1957 cover, depicting two [[log driving|log drivers]] at work with a third man watching them.<ref name="Löfström, pp. 189"/> Pulled from the Finnish mythology of lumberjacks representing strong masculinity, Laaksonen emphasized and privileged "[[Homoeroticism|homoerotic]] potentiality [...] relocating it in a gay context", a strategy repeated throughout his career.<ref name="Löfström, pp. 189"/>

The [[Aftermath of World War II|post-World War II era]] saw the rise of the [[Motorcycling#Subcultures|biker subculture]] as rejecting "the reorganization and normalization of life [[Postwar period|after the war]], with its conformist, settled lifestyle."<ref name="Löfström, pp. 190">Löfström, p. 190.</ref><ref>Suárez, 1996, pp. 150.</ref> Biker subculture was both marginal and [[Counterculture|oppositional]], and provided postwar gay men with a stylized masculinity that included rebelliousness and danger.<ref name="Löfström, pp. 190"/> This was in contrast to the then-prevailing stereotypes of the gay man as effeminate ([[sissy]]), as seen in [[vaudeville]] and films going back to the first years of the industry.<ref>''[[The Celluloid Closet (film)|The Celluloid Closet]]''; Directors:  Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman (1996) UPC: 043396821071.</ref> Laaksonen was influenced by images of bikers as well as artwork of [[George Quaintance]] and [[Dom Orejudos|Etienne]], among others, that he cited as his precursors, "disseminated to gay readership through homoerotic [[physique magazines]]" starting in 1950.<ref>Hooven 1993, pp. 84–85.</ref><ref name="Löfström, pp. 190"/> Laaksonen's drawings of bikers and [[Leather subculture|leathermen]] capitalized on the leather and denim outfits which differentiated those men from [[mainstream culture]] and suggested they were untamed, physical, and self-empowered.<ref>Suárez, 1996, pp. 152, 158.</ref><ref name="Löfström, pp. 190-1">Löfström, pp. 190–1.</ref> This in contrast with the mainstream, medically and psychologically sad and sensitive young gay man who is passive.<ref name="Löfström, pp. 190-1"/><ref>Suárez, 1996, pp. 152, 158.; Dyer 1983</ref> Laaksonen's drawings of this time "can be seen as consolidating an array of factors, styles and discourses already existing in the 1950s gay subcultures," which may have led to them being widely distributed and popularized within those cultures.<ref name="Löfström, pp. 191">Löfström, pp. 191.</ref> Starting his professional career in 1958 as a creative executive in renowned marketing agency, [[:fi:McCann Helsinki|McCann Helsinki]],<ref>{{Cite web|date=15 June 2015|title=FROM ADVERTISING TO GAY EROTICA: THE WORK OF TOM OF FINLAND|url=https://www.tomoffinland.org/from-advertising-to-gay-erotica-the-work-of-tom-of-finland/|access-date=28 March 2021|website=Tom of Finland Foundation|language=en-US}}</ref> further encouraged his creativity.

=== U.S. censorship codes (1950s–1960s) ===
Laaksonen's style and content in the late 1950s and early 1960s was partly influenced by the U.S. censorship codes that restricted depiction of "overt homosexual acts".<ref name="Löfström, pp. 191"/> His work was published in the [[beefcake magazines|beefcake]] genre that began in the 1930s and predominantly featured photographs of attractive, muscular young men in athletic poses often shown demonstrating exercises.<ref name="beef">''Beefcake'' (1999); Thom Fitzgerald, writer, director, co-producer; Shandi Mitchell, co-producer; Alliance Independent Films.</ref> Their primary market was gay men, but because of the conservative and [[homophobia|homophobic]] social culture of the era, [[gay pornography]] was illegal and the publications were typically presented as dedicated to physical fitness and health.<ref name="beef"/> They were often the only connection that [[closeted]] men had to their sexuality.<ref name="beef"/> By this time, however, Laaksonen was rendering private commissions, so more explicit work was produced but remained unpublished.<ref name="Löfström, pp. 191" /> Aside from his work at the advertising agency, Laaksonen operated a small mail-order business, distributing reproductions of his artwork around the world by post, though he did not generate much income this way.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20200323-the-sexed-up-cartoon-hunks-that-defined-gay-culture|title=The sexed-up cartoon hunks that defined gay culture|publisher=BBC|last=Levine|first=Nick|date=24 March 2020}}</ref>

In the 1962 case of ''[[MANual Enterprises v. Day]]'' the [[United States Supreme Court]] ruled that nude male photographs were not inherently obscene.<ref>''[[MANual Enterprises v. Day]],'' 370 U.S. 478 in 1962; Barron, Jerome A. and Dienes, C. Thomas, ''First Amendment Law'', St. Paul, Minn.: West Publishing Co., 1993, {{ISBN|0-314-02581-2}} ; Streitmatter, Rodger and Watson, John C., "Herman Lynn Womack: Pornographer as First Amendment Pioneer," ''Journalism History,'' 28:56 (Summer 2002).</ref> [[Softcore pornography|Softcore]] gay pornography magazines and films featuring fully nude models, some of them [[tumescence|tumescent]], quickly appeared and the pretense of being about exercise and fitness was dropped as controls on pornography were reduced.<ref name="beef"/><ref>Waugh, Thomas: ''Hard to Imagine: Gay Male Eroticism in Photography and Film from Their Beginnings to Stonewall.'' New York: Columbia University Press, 1996. {{ISBN|0-231-09998-3}}.</ref> By the end of the 1960s the market for beefcake magazines collapsed.<ref name="beef"/> Laaksonen was able to publish his more overtly homoerotic work and it changed the context with "new possibilities and conventions for displaying frontal male nudity in magazines and movies."<ref name="Löfström, pp. 191"/> Laaksonen reacted by publishing more explicit drawings and stylized his figures' fantastical aspects with exaggerated physical aspects, particularly their genitals and muscles.<ref name="Löfström, pp. 191" /> In the late 1960s he developed [[Kake (comics)|Kake]], a character appearing in an ongoing series of comics, which debuted in 1968.[[File:Physique Pictorial Vol 17 No 1 Tom of Finland.jpg|thumb|In gay magazines, Laaksonen's drawings were often cropped to be less explicit, as in this 1968 edition of ''[[Physique Pictorial]]''. The caption notes that reproductions of the complete "natural (nude) Tom drawings" are for sale by mail order.]]

=== Gay mainstream appeal (1970s–1991) ===
With the [[decriminalization]] of male nudity, gay pornography became more mainstream in gay cultures, and Laaksonen's work along with it. By 1973, he was publishing erotic comic books and making inroads to the mainstream art world with exhibitions. In 1973 he gave up his full-time job at the Helsinki office of advertising agency [[McCann (company)|McCann]]. "Since then I've lived in jeans and lived on my drawings," is how he described the lifestyle transition which occurred during this period.

By the mid-1970s he was also emphasizing a [[photorealism|photorealistic]] style, making aspects of the drawings appear more photographic.<ref name="Löfström, pp. 191"/> Many of his drawings are based on photographs, but none are exact reproductions of them.<ref name="DATMA">Ilppo Pohjola (author): Kari Paljakka and Alvaro Pardo (producers): Daddy and the Muscle Academy: Tom of Finland: United Kingdom: Oracle Home Entertainment: 2002.</ref> The photographic inspiration is used, on the one hand, to create lifelike, almost moving images, with convincing and active postures and gestures while Laaksonen exaggerates physical features and presents his ideal of masculine beauty and sexual allure, combining realism with fantasy.<ref name="DATMA"/> In ''Daddy and the Muscle Academy – The Art, Life, and Times of Tom of Finland'' examples of photographs and the drawings based upon them are shown side by side.<ref name="DATMA"/> Although he considered the photographs to be merely reference tools for his drawings, contemporary art students have seen them as complete works of art that stand on their own.<ref>Hooven 2012, p. 134.</ref>

In 1979, Laaksonen, with businessman and friend [[Durk Dehner]], co-founded the Tom of Finland Company to preserve the copyright on his art, which had been widely pirated. Tom was introduced to Dehner by his [[pen pal]] and fellow erotic artist [[Dom Orejudos]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dehner |first=Durk |date=2011-09-15 |title=The art of Etienne |url=https://www.tomoffinland.org/the-art-of-etienne-add-to-your-collection/ |access-date=2024-01-03 |website=Tom of Finland Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref> Also in 1979, Laaksonen and Lou Thomas (a co-founder of [[Colt Studio Group|Colt Studio]]) published ''Target by Tom; The Natural Man,'' a series of photographs and drawings of adult performers including [[Bruno (adult performer)|Bruno]], Jeremy Brent, Chuck Gatlin, and Steve Sartori.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tom of Finland (1920-1991), Lou Thomas (Dates Unknown), Target by Tom; The Natural Man. |url=https://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/Lots/auction-lot/TOM-OF-FINLAND-(1920-1991)-LOU-THOMAS-(DATES-UNKNOWN)-TARGET?saleno=2677&lotNo=156&refNo=819584 |access-date=2024-08-01 |website=[[Swann Galleries]] |quote=The Natural Man. Six chromogenic prints. Each sheet 203x254 mm; 8x10 inches (sheet). 1975. Target by Tom. Eight offset lithographs. Each sheet 254x203 mm; 10x8 inches (sheet). Signed and dated "79" in the plate. This dual portfolio set was executed by photographer and co-founder of Target Studios, Lou Thomas. Thomas photographed the models and Tom of Finland drew the models from Thomas' photographs to make the prints. The models included Jeremy Brent, Chuck Gatlin, Steve Sartori, Roger, Barry, Brand, Dak, and Bruno.}}</ref>

In 1984 the Tom of Finland [[Foundation (charity)|Foundation]] was established to collect, preserve, and exhibit [[homoerotic]] artwork.<ref name="EGLPC">Prono, Luca: [https://books.google.com/books?id=uID5xunun2wC Encyclopedia of Gay and Lesbian Popular Culture.] p. 258. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2008. {{ISBN|978-0-313-33599-0}}</ref> Although Laaksonen was quite successful at this point, with his biography on the best-seller list, and [[Benedikt Taschen]], the world's largest art book publisher reprinting and expanding a monograph of his works, he was most proud of the Foundation.<ref name="Ency of LG" /> The scope of the organization expanded to erotic works of all types, sponsored contests, exhibits, and started the groundwork for a museum of erotic art.<ref name="Ency of LG" />

Laaksonen developed a "wonderfully rich relationship" with [[Bill Schmeling]] during the 1980s when they lived in [[Los Angeles]]; the two men set up artist salons in their homes and shared artistic practices as well as life experiences.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Daniels |first=Champ |date=2022-05-12 |title="AllTogether" {{!}} Sultan, The Hun and Victor Arimondi |url=https://www.tomoffinland.org/alltogether-sultan-the-hun-and-victor-arimondi/ |access-date=2023-12-31 |website=Tom of Finland Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref> Schmeling cited Laaksonen as having considerably influenced his artistic style.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bill “The Hun” Schmeling {{!}} 30th April 1938 – 12th September 2019 |url=https://www.tomoffinland.org/bill-the-hun-schmeling-30th-april-1938-12th-september-2019/ |access-date=2024-06-17 |website=Tom of Finland Foundation}}</ref>

=== Death ===
Laaksonen was diagnosed with [[emphysema]] in 1988. Eventually the disease and medication caused his hands to tremble, leading him to switch media from pencil to pastel. He died in 1991 of an emphysema-induced stroke.<ref name="Tom of Finland: A Short Biography" />

==Private life==

Laaksonen's life partner was the dancer Veli "Nipa" Mäkinen with whom he shared his life for 28 years, until Mäkinen's death in 1981.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/art-2000002899667.html |title=Millainen mies löytyy Tom of Finland -kuvien takaa? Touko Laaksosen sisarenpoika avasi kotialbumit HS:lle |website=Helsingin Sanomat |date=5 May 2016 |language=fi |access-date=19 October 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.postimuseo.fi/lehdistokuvat/salaisuuksin-suljettu/92-nipa-ja-touko-dortmundissa-1?slug=nipa-ja-touko-dortmundissa-1 |title=Nipa ja Touko Dortmundissa |publisher={{ill|Finnish Postal Museum|fi|Postimuseo}} |language=fi |access-date=27 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160630093206/http://www.postimuseo.fi/lehdistokuvat/salaisuuksin-suljettu/92-nipa-ja-touko-dortmundissa-1?slug=nipa-ja-touko-dortmundissa-1 |archive-date=30 June 2016 |quote=Mäkinen menehtyi kurkunpääsyöpään heinäkuussa 1981}}</ref>

==Reception==
{{refimprove section|date=June 2023}}
When examining the reception of Laaksonen's art, it is impossible to separate it from its original purpose. His "dirty drawings", as he himself called them, served primarily as gay erotica, intended to arouse the viewer.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last=Snaith |first=Guy |date=2003 |title=Tom's Men: The Masculinization of Homosexuality and the Homosexualization of Masculinity at the end of the Twentieth Century |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43263715 |journal=Paragraph |volume=26 |issue=1/2 |pages=77–88 |issn=0264-8334}}</ref> As described by Rob Meijer, owner of a leathershop and art gallery in Amsterdam, "These works are not conversation pieces, they're masturbation pieces."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tom of Finland : Tom of Finland Foundation |url=https://www.tomoffinland.org/tom-of-finland-3/ |access-date=2024-07-05 |website=www.tomoffinland.org}}</ref> Many of his drawings were published in publications like [[Physique Pictorial]], or were advertisements and murals for [[Bath House|bath houses]], [[Leather subculture|leather bars]] and clubs, which were erotically charged or explicitly sexual spaces.<ref name=":4" />

They also contributed to the spread of a new gay masculinity and confidence. In oral histories, for example, the works of Laaksonen are repeatedly described as influential for one's own sexual biography. Many men identified with his characters, who were pictured as masculine, virile and often [[Blue-collar worker|blue-collar]], thus defeating homophobic stereotypes of [[effeminacy]]. Kate Wolf writes that "Tom of Finland helped pave the way to gay liberation".<ref>"Bob Mizer and Tom of Finland", Kate Wolf, ''Artforum International Magazine'' (Online), 21 November 2013</ref>

Laaksonen's drawings were particularly popular in the flourishing [[leather subculture]] of the 1950s to 1970s. Tom's drawings were central to the development and dissemination of a more unified gay leather aesthetic, resulting in the so-called "clone look" of the 1970s and 1980s.<ref name=":25">{{Cite journal |last=Snaith |first=Guy |date=2003 |title=Tom's Men: The Masculinization of Homosexuality and the Homosexualization of Masculinity at the end of the Twentieth Century |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43263715 |journal=Paragraph |volume=26 |issue=1/2 |pages=77–88 |doi=10.3366/para.2003.26.1-2.77 |issn=0264-8334 |jstor=43263715}}</ref> {{Quote|text=Tom's work wasn't pornography. It was salvation.|author=Robert J. Pierce|title=Tom of Finland: The Case for Gay Art|source=The Soho News (6 February 1980)}}During his lifetime and beyond, Laaksonen's work has drawn both admiration and disdain from different quarters of the artistic community. Laaksonen developed a friendship with gay photographer [[Robert Mapplethorpe]], whose work depicting [[sado-masochism]] and [[Sexual fetishism|fetish]] [[iconography]] was also subject to controversy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Delavan |first=Tom |date=2016-02-24 |title=This Spring, All About Robert Mapplethorpe and Tom of Finland |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/22/t-magazine/art/robert-mapplethorpe-tom-of-finland.html |access-date=2024-06-30 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kennicot |first=Philip |date=2019-01-24 |title=Robert Mapplethorpe was one of the most controversial artists of the ’80s. |url=https://moranmorangallery.com/robert-mapplethorpe-was-one-of-the-most-controversial-artists-of-the-80s/ |access-date=2024-06-30 |website=The Washington Post, via Morán Morán |language=en-US}}</ref>

A controversial theme in his drawings was the erotic treatment of men in [[SS uniform|Nazi uniforms]]. They form a small part of his overall work, but the typically flattering visual treatment of these characters has led some viewers to infer sympathy or affinity for Nazism, and they have been omitted from most recent anthologies of his work.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Scott |first=Hunter |date=2024-03-21 |title=Facing Sameness: Reconsidering the Radicality of Tom of Finland |url=https://www.invisibleculturejournal.com/pub/7vwsuc18/release/1 |journal=InVisible Culture |language=en |issue=36 |doi=10.47761/494a02f6.262a8f58|doi-access=free }}</ref> Later in his career Laaksonen disavowed this work and was at pains to dissociate himself and his work from fascist or racist ideologies. He also depicted a significant number of black men in his drawings, with no overt racial or political message in the context in which they appear; although they bear some commonality with racist [[caricature]]s of the "hypersexual" black male{{according to whom? |date=December 2023}}, these traits are shared by Laaksonen's white characters as well.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Black men in Tom’s world : Tom of Finland Foundation |url=https://www.tomoffinland.org/black-men-in-toms-world/ |access-date=2024-06-30 |website=www.tomoffinland.org}}</ref> 

[[Sheila Jeffreys]] offers a radical feminist critique of Laaksonen's work in her 2003 book ''Unpacking Queer Politics''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Jeffreys, Sheila.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/49805467|title=Unpacking queer politics : a lesbian feminist perspective|date=2003|publisher=Polity Press in association with Blackwell Pub |page=84-88 |isbn=0-7456-2837-0|location=Cambridge|oclc=49805467}}</ref>

Art critics have mixed views about Laaksonen's work. His detailed drawing technique has led to him being described as a "master with a pencil", while in contrast a reviewer for Dutch newspaper ''[[Het Parool]]'' described his work as "illustrative but without expressivity".<ref>''The Queer Encyclopedia of the Visual Arts'', Claude J. Summers, Cleis Press, 2004. {{ISBN|1-57344-191-0}}</ref>

There is considerable argument over whether his depiction of "supermen" (male characters with huge sexual organs and muscles) is facile and distasteful, or whether there is a deeper complexity in the work which plays with and subverts those stereotypes. For example, some critics have noted instances of apparent tenderness between traditionally tough, masculine characters, or playful smiles in sado-masochistic scenes.{{Citation needed|date=December 2016}}

Further, Laaksonen has been criticised {{By whom|date=February 2024}} for his depiction of sexual violence in the Kake cartoon, "Postal Rape" <ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.gaykrant.nl/2023/03/30/thomas-garrod-pullar-we-hebben-een-cultuur-van-verkrachting-gecreeerd-in-de-homogemeenschap/ | title=Thomas Garrod-Pullar &#124; 'We hebben een cultuur van verkrachting gecreëerd in de homogemeenschap.' | date=30 March 2023 }}</ref> in which a postal worker is sexually assaulted. This has been described {{By whom|date=February 2024}} as contributing to the normalisation of sexual violence, of which the LGBTQIA+ community is particularly at risk.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

Writing for ''[[Artforum]]'', Kevin Killian said that seeing Tom of Finland originals "produces a strong respect for his nimble, witty creation".<ref>"Bob Mizer and Tom of Finland", Kevin Killian, ''Artforum International Magazine'', March 2014</ref> 

==Cultural impact and legacy==
In 2006, historian [[Jack Fritscher]] wrote:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fritscher |first=Jack |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/268739395 |title=Gay San Francisco: eyewitness Drummer: a memoir of the sex, art, salon, pop culture war, and gay history of Drummer magazine, the titanic 1970s to 1999 |last2=Hemry |first2=Mark |date=2007 |publisher=Palm Drive Pub |isbn=978-1-890834-38-8 |edition=Collectors' limited ed., illustrated |location=San Francisco |oclc=268739395}}</ref><blockquote>If there is a gay [[Mount Rushmore]] of four great pioneer pop artists, the faces would be [[Chuck Arnett]], [[Dom Orejudos|Etienne]], [[Al Shapiro|A. Jay]], and Tom of Finland.</blockquote>Laaksonen's artwork inspired numerous other artists to explore explicit sexuality in their own art,<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |last=Chiaverina |first=John |date=2020-07-23 |title=Eight Artists on the Influence of Tom of Finland |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/23/t-magazine/tom-of-finland.html |access-date=2024-06-15 |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and some (like [[MATT]]<ref>{{Cite web |year=2002 |title=Remembering Matt |url=http://www.worldoftomoffinland.com/foundation/Dispatch/Dispatch2002aug/Matt.htm |access-date=2024-06-15 |website=World of Tom of Finland |series=Fall 2002 |publisher=The Dispatch}}</ref>) dedicated works of art in his memory.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A handsome tribute to Tom by a team of three talented artists in Helsinki |url=https://www.tomoffinland.org/a-handsome-tribute-to-tom-in-helsinki-by-a-team-of-three-talented-artists/ |access-date=2024-06-15 |website=Tom of Finland Foundation}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Harrity |first=Christopher |date=2017-09-29 |title=19 Photos Re-create the World of Tom of Finland |url=https://www.advocate.com/photography/2017/9/29/19-photos-re-create-world-tom-finland |access-date=2024-06-15 |website=[[The Advocate (magazine)|Advocate]] |language=en}}</ref>

In 2019, the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' reported:<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Foster |first=R. Daniel |date=2019-10-02 |title=An L.A. home where homoerotic artist Tom of Finland lived is a shrine to his legacy |url=https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/story/2019-10-02/tom-of-finland-house-echo-park |access-date=2024-06-15 |website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |language=en-US}}</ref><blockquote>Tom’s cocksure leather look — a breakout sultry aesthetic dating to the 1950s — captured the early attention of artists such as [[Robert Mapplethorpe]], [[Raymond Pettibon]] and [[Mike Kelley (artist)|Mike Kelley]]. It also influenced fashion and music: designers [[Jean Paul Gaultier|Jean-Paul Gaultier]] and [[Thierry Mugler]] and [[Queen (band)|Queen]]’s [[Freddie Mercury]]. Today, Finland embraces its artist-son as a national hero, one backed by plenty of online merch — as diverse as sex toys and holiday ornaments. Tom’s bevy of built rogues, always affable and forever awash in unapologetic lust, has indeed aged well.</blockquote>

=== Tom of Finland Company ===
Laaksonen and Dehner established the Tom of Finland Company in 1978 to oversee the publication of Laaksonen's work and to combat [[copyright infringement]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=About Foundation : Tom of Finland Foundation |url=https://www.tomoffinland.org/about-the-foundation/ |access-date=2024-06-14 |website=Tom of Finland Foundation}}</ref><ref name=":3" />  In 1995, Tom of Finland Clothing Company introduced a fashion line based on his works, which covers a wide array of looks besides the typified cutoff-jeans-and-jacket style of his drawings. The fashion line balances the original [[homoeroticism]] of the drawings with mainstream fashion culture, and their runway shows occur in many of the venues during the same times as other fashion companies.{{citation needed|date=September 2014}}

=== Tom of Finland Foundation ===
Laaksonen and Dehner founded the nonprofit Tom of Finland Foundation (ToFF) in 1984 to preserve Laaksonen's catalog of work.<ref name=":1" /> After several years, they broadened ToFF's mission to "offer a safe haven for all erotic art."<ref name=":1" /> ToFF holds the world's largest collection of Laaksonen art (about 1,500 works) as well as one of the world's largest collections of erotic art (more than 100,000 images of materials).<ref name=":0" /> ToFF produces an annual competition for emerging artists to exhibit their work for publicity and awards.<ref name=":1" /> The foundation also hosts social events to fundraise and provide opportunity for like-minded fans of erotic art to meet, including the annual, two-day Tom of Finland Art and Culture Festival.<ref name=":1" />

ToFF's Erotic Artist Hall of Fame recognizes exemplary erotic artists including [[H. R. Giger]], [[Bill Schmeling]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bill “The Hun” Schmeling {{!}} 30th April 1938 – 12th September 2019 : Tom of Finland Foundation |url=https://www.tomoffinland.org/bill-the-hun-schmeling-30th-april-1938-12th-september-2019/ |access-date=2024-06-15 |website=www.tomoffinland.org}}</ref> and [[Rex (artist)|Rex]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=ToFF Artist Hall of Fame – REX : Tom of Finland Foundation |url=https://www.tomoffinland.org/tof-artist-hall-of-fame-rex/ |access-date=2024-06-15 |website=www.tomoffinland.org}}</ref>

ToFF derives some income from its public programming and by licensing Laaksonen's images and name for commercial use, but it depends on donations and membership dues.<ref name=":1" /> ToFF is a separate entity distinct from the Tom of Finland Company, from which it receives financial support.<ref name=":1" />

[[File:TomsRoom-C11.jpg|thumb|Tom of Finland's room at [[Tom of Finland#TOM House|TOM House]] in Los Angeles (2002),  photographed by [[Henning von Berg]].]]
==== TOM House ====
ToFF is headquartered at TOM House,<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Visit : Tom of Finland Foundation |url=https://www.tomoffinland.org/visit/ |access-date=2024-06-15 |website=www.tomoffinland.org}}</ref> a home in [[Echo Park|Echo Park, Los Angeles]] owned by Dehner at which Laaksonen lived for about a decade in his final years and where he created about 800 artworks (20% of his body of work).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Malkin |first=Marc |date=2021-06-02 |title=Tom of Finland Foundation Documentary Being Developed About Co-Founder Durk Dehner (EXCLUSIVE) |url=https://variety.com/2021/film/news/tom-of-finland-foundation-documentary-being-developed-about-co-founder-durk-dehner-exclusive-1234985214/ |access-date=2024-06-15 |website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> Laaksonen stayed for six-months at a time due to the restrictions on his [[Visa policy of the United States|visa]].<ref name=":0" /> His bedroom has been preserved in much the same state as when he resided there before his 1991 death.<ref name=":0" /> The 14-room home is filled with erotic art (even the ceilings are covered in it).<ref name=":3" /> Other amenities include a basement dungeon (open by invitation only) and a "Pleasure Park" of sloped terraces and sitting areas in the backyard.<ref name=":0" />

ToFF offers tours of the house by appointment.<ref name=":2" /> The home also hosts public events, including nude life drawing sessions.<ref name=":0" /> The [[Los Angeles City Council]] designated the house a Historic-Cultural Monument in 2016.<ref name=":0" />

=== Art and exhibitions ===
In 2009, Laaksonen was inducted into the Leather Hall of Fame.<ref>{{cite web |title=> Inductees |url=https://leatherhalloffame.com/index.php/inductees.html |access-date=31 December 2019 |publisher=Leatherhalloffame.com}}</ref> Some of his original works are at the [[Leather Archives and Museum|Leather Archives & Museum]] in Chicago.<ref name="sfldg1">{{cite web |date=22 October 2014 |title=KANE, "DRUMMER," AND DEBLASE – Rick Storer, Leather Archives & Museum – San Francisco Leathermen's Discussion Group |url=https://www.sfldg.org/all-programs/2014/10/22/on-the-road-with-the-leather-archives-museum-rick-storer |access-date=24 April 2020 |publisher=Sfldg.org}}</ref><ref name="O’Shea2018">{{cite book |author=Mick O’Shea |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ExnDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA66 |title=The Sex Pistols Invade America: The Fateful U.S. Tour, January 1978 |date=3 August 2018 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-3184-4 |pages=66–}}</ref>

New York's [[Museum of Modern Art]] has acquired several examples of Laaksonen's artwork for its permanent collection.<ref>Arell & Mustola, p. 187</ref> In 2006, MoMA in New York accepted five Tom of Finland drawings as part of a much larger gift from The Judith Rothschild Foundation. The trustee of The Judith Rothschild Foundation, Harvey S. Shipley Miller, said, "Tom of Finland is one of the five most influential artists of the twentieth century. As an artist he was superb, as an influence he was transcendent."<ref name="Hero">Hooven 2012, p. 233.</ref> Hudson, of Feature Inc., New York, placed Tom of Finland's work in the collections of [[Rhode Island School of Design]] Museum of Art and [[Art Institute of Chicago]]. His work is also in the public Collections of: [[Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles|The Museum of Contemporary Art]] (MOCA), Los Angeles, USA; [[Aaltonen Museum of Art|Wäinö Aaltonen Museum of Art]]; Turku, Finland; [[Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive|University of California Berkeley Art Museum]], Berkeley (California), USA; [[Los Angeles County Museum of Art]], Los Angeles, USA; [[Kiasma]], Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland; [[San Francisco Museum of Modern Art]], San Francisco, USA; and Tom of Finland Foundation, Los Angeles, USA.

In 1999, an exhibition took place at the Institut Culturel Finlandais ([[Finnish people|Finnish]] Cultural Centre) in Paris.

In 2011 there was a large retrospective exhibition of Laaksonen's artwork in [[Turku]], Finland. The exhibition was one of the official events in Turku's [[European Capital of Culture]] programme.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.turku2011.fi/en/tom-finland_en |title=Tom of Finland &#124; Turku 2011 |website=Turku2011.fi |access-date=10 December 2016}}</ref>

In 2012, [[Kulturhuset]] presented a retrospective, ''Tom of Finland'', in Stockholm, Sweden; and Tom of Finland's work was in the [[Robert Rauschenberg]] Foundation's ''We the People'' in New York City, USA.

In 2013, [[Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles|MOCA]] presented ''Bob Mizer & Tom of Finland'' in Los Angeles, USA. The artist's work was also seen in ''HAPPY BIRTHDAY [[Galerie Perrotin]] – 25 years'' in Lille, France; [[Leslie Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art|Leslie Lohman Museum's]] ''Rare and Raw'' in New York City, USA; and the [[ICA, London|Institute of Contemporary Art]]'s ''Keep Your Timber Limber (Works on Paper)'' in London, England.

In 2015, [[Artists Space]] presented the exhibition "Tom of Finland: The Pleasure of Play" in New York City, USA.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://artistsspace.org/exhibitions/tom-of-finland|title=Tom of Finland: The Pleasure of Play|website=artistsspace.org}}</ref> The exhibition was also presented in [[Kunsthalle Helsinki]] in 2016, complemented with additional material such as photos from family albums.<ref>{{cite web|title=Tom of Finland: The Pleasure of Play|url=http://taidehalli.fi/en/nayttelyt/tom-of-finland|publisher=Kunsthalle Helsinki|access-date=1 August 2017}}</ref>

In 2020, as part of the 100th birthday celebrations, "Tom of Finland: Love and Liberation" at London's [[House of Illustration]] showed 40 originals with ephemera emphasizing fashion as an aspect of his work.

===Film===

In 1991, Filmitakomo and [[Yleisradio]] produced a documentary film, ''[[Daddy and the Muscle Academy]]'',<ref name="PASR" /> directed by [[Ilppo Pohjola]]. By the late 1980s, Laaksonen was well known in the gay world, but his "pneumatically muscled, meticulously rendered monster-donged icons of masculinity" received mainstream attention when the film – which includes hundreds of images of his work along with interviews – was released theatrically in Finland, won a Finnish [[Jussi Award]] in 1992,<ref>[https://www.jussit.fi/jussivoittajat Jussi-voittajat.] Filmiaura ry (in Finnish).</ref> and was shown at film festivals and film art houses worldwide.<ref name="Ency of LG">Hooven, F. Valentine, III: [https://books.google.com/books?id=L9Mj7oHEwVoC Gay histories and cultures: an encyclopedia. Volume 2 of Encyclopedia of lesbian and gay histories and cultures.] p. 884. George E. Haggerty, editor. Taylor & Francis, 2000. {{ISBN|0-8153-3354-4}}</ref><ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/edinburgh-international-film-festival-highlights-1540241.html Edinburgh International Film Festival highlights] ''The Independent'', Friday, 14 August 1992.<br>[https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19920507/1490380/special-events Seattle Film Festival: Special events] ''Seattle Times, 7 May 1992.''</ref><ref name="festdiary">[https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/festival-diary--bad-karma-and-the-big-yin-the-billy-connolly-affair-and-trouble-and-strife-with-the-bay-city-rollers-sheila-johnston-reports-from-the-46th-edinburgh-international-film-festival-1541584.html Festival Diary: Bad karma and the Big Yin: The Billy Connolly Affair and trouble and strife with The Bay City Rollers. Sheila Johnston reports from the 46th Edinburgh International Film Festival] Sheila Johnston, ''The Independent'', 21 August 1992.</ref> While praising the artwork's quality one critic noted the film's lauding of Laaksonen as a [[gay icon|gay pride icon]] while ignoring his work's "resemblance to both [[BDSM|S & M]] pornography and Fascist art" which she tied to Laaksonen's early sexual experiences with German soldiers during [[World War II]].<ref name="festdiary" />

Filmmaker [[Wes Hurley]] credits Tom of Finland as an influence in his work, including his short ''Peter and the Wolf'' and his cult comedy musical ''[[Waxie Moon in Fallen Jewel]]''.<ref>{{cite web |last=Miller |first=Jason |url=http://central-cinema.com/3-questions-with-wes-hurley/ |title=3 Questions with Wes Hurley &#124; |website=Central-cinema.com |date=26 March 2013 |access-date=10 December 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220192708/http://central-cinema.com/3-questions-with-wes-hurley/ |archive-date=20 December 2016}}</ref>

''Variety'' announced in 2013 that Finnish director [[Dome Karukoski]] was set to make a biopic of Laaksonen, entitled ''[[Tom of Finland (film)|Tom of Finland]]''. Helsinki-filmi produced it and secured exclusive rights. The film, released in February 2017 in Finland,<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.out.com/movies/2016/9/20/tom-finland-biopic-finally-has-trailer|title=That Tom of Finland Biopic Finally Has a Trailer|date=20 September 2016|access-date=11 December 2016}}</ref> is the first biopic of the artist.<ref>"Karukoski's English-Language Debut Will Be Tom of Finland's First Authorized Biopic". Elsa Keslassy. ''Variety'' 13 September 2013</ref>

===Stamps===
{{Main|Tom of Finland stamps}}

In September 2014 the Finnish postal service, [[Itella|Itella Posti]], published a set of three first class stamps featuring drawings by Laaksonen and in association with the stamps' release exhibited some of his correspondence at the Finnish Postal Museum.<ref>{{cite web
 |title        = Tom of Finland to appear on stamps in September
 |url          = http://www.posti.fi/english/current/2014/20140413_stamps.html
 |publisher    = [[Itella Posti]]
 |date         = 13 April 2014
 |access-date  = 17 April 2014
 |archive-date = 15 April 2014
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20140415192909/http://www.posti.fi/english/current/2014/20140413_stamps.html
 |url-status   = dead
}}<br>{{cite news
 |title       = World's first homoerotic stamps produced in Finland
 |url         = https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-27060533
 |format      = audio interview
 |work        = Today programme
 |publisher   = [[BBC News Online]]
 |date        = 17 April 2014
 |access-date = 17 April 2014
}}</ref> Two of the stamps include portions of an illustration of a nude man sitting between the legs of another man dressed as a police officer; the other depicts nude buttocks with a man's face included between the thighs.<ref name=BBC>{{cite news|title=World's first homoerotic stamps produced in Finland|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-27060533|work=BBC News|access-date=19 August 2015|date=17 April 2014}}</ref><ref name=Bustle>{{cite web|last1=Millstein|first1=Seth|title=Finland's Homoerotic Postage Stamps Are Pretty Bold|url=http://www.bustle.com/articles/21302-finlands-homoerotic-postage-stamps-are-pretty-bold|website=Bustle|access-date=19 August 2015|date=15 April 2014}}</ref> The stamp set exceeded Posti's expectations, with pre-orders from 178 countries, making it the best-selling stamp set in the service's history.<ref>{{cite news|title=Tom of Finland stamps on sale Monday; Finland's biggest seller ever|url=http://yle.fi/uutiset/tom_of_finland_stamps_on_sale_monday_finlands_biggest_seller_ever/7459075|access-date=15 January 2015|work=Yle Uutiset|date=8 September 2014}}</ref>

==Videography==
*Ilppo Pohjola (author): Kari Paljakka and Alvaro Pardo (producers): ''Daddy and the Muscle Academy: Tom of Finland.'' Filmitakomo & YLE, Finland 1991. (Duration of Feature: 58 Minutes. Also features frames of Laaksonen's graphic art.)

==See also==
* [[Bara (genre)]]
* [[Beefcake magazines]]
* [[Durk Dehner]]
* [[Leather Archives & Museum]]
* [[ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite book |last1=Arell |first1=Berndt |last2=Mustola |first2=Kati |title=Tom of Finland: Ennennäkemätöntä – Unforeseen |publisher=Like |year=2006 |isbn=952-471-843-X}}
* {{cite book |last=Hooven |first=F. Valentine |year=1993 |title=Tom of Finland: His Life and Times |location=New York |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=0-312-09325-X}}
* {{cite book |last=Hooven |first=F. Valentine III |year=2012 |title=Tom of Finland: Life and Work of a Gay Hero |location=Berlin |publisher=[[Bruno Gmünder Verlag]] |isbn=978-3-86787-166-2}}
*{{Citation |last=Löfström |first=Jan |title=Scandinavian homosexualities: essays on gay and lesbian studies |work=Journal of homosexuality |volume=35 |issue=3–4 |publisher=Routledge |year=1998 |isbn=0-7890-0508-5 |pages=189–206}}
* Ramakers, Mischa. ''Dirty Pictures: Tom of Finland, Masculinity and Homosexuality.'' New York: St. Martin's Press, 2001. {{ISBN|0-312-20526-0}}
* {{cite book |last=Suárez |first=Juan A. |year=1996 |title=Bike Boys, Drag Queens, and Superstars: Avant-Garde, Mass Culture, and Gay Identities in the 1960s Underground Cinema |location=Bloomington and Indianapolis |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=0-253-32971-X}}
* ''Tom of Finland: The Art of Pleasure.'' Mischa Ramakers, ed. London: Taschen, 1998, {{ISBN|3-8228-8598-3}}
* ''Tom of Finland: The Comic Collection.'' Vol. 1–5. Dian Hanson, ed. London: Taschen, 2005. {{ISBN|978-3-8228-3849-5}}
* {{cite news
| last         = Needham
| first        = Alex
| date         = 1 August 2017
| title        = World of leather: how Tom of Finland created a legendary gay aesthetic
| url          = https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/aug/01/tom-of-finland-leather-legendary-gay-aesthetic-touko-laaksonen?CMP=share_btn_fb
| work         = The Guardian
| access-date  = 1 August 2017
}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite magazine |last=Kalin |first=Kaj |year=1990 |magazine=[[Image (Finnish magazine)|Image]] |type=Interview |title=Tom of Finland |language=fi |issue=3 |location=Helsinki |pages=104–119}}

==External links==
* {{Commons-inline}}
*[https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/81412286/touko-laaksonen Grave of Touko Laaksonen]
*[https://www.tomoffinland.org/ Tom of Finland Foundation]

{{Portal bar|Biography|Comics|Finland|LGBTQ|Erotica and pornography|Human sexuality}}
{{Authority control (arts)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tom Of Finland}}
[[Category:1920 births]]
[[Category:1991 deaths]]
[[Category:Fetish artists]]
[[Category:Finnish cartoonists]]
[[Category:Finnish erotic artists]]
[[Category:Gay male BDSM]]
[[Category:Gay male erotica artists]]
[[Category:Leather subculture]]
[[Category:LGBTQ comics creators]]
[[Category:Finnish gay artists]]
[[Category:People from Kaarina]]
[[Category:Pseudonymous artists]]
[[Category:Finnish military personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Deaths from emphysema]]
[[Category:Respiratory disease deaths in Finland]]
[[Category:20th-century Finnish LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:20th-century Finnish male artists]]
[[Category:Finnish expatriates in the United States]]