Taormina: Wilhelm Von Gloeden

This explain the coarse side of some of these pictures that other reviewers noticed: this would be unusual for Gloeden indeed, however these pix are not his, but mostly by Vincenzo Galdi (Pluschow's aide), who ended his career in 1907 after being condemned for *obscene* photographs. Q.E.D.

In sum, the editors made a total mess, concerning attributions. They decided that if it looks Italian, and it is at least one century old, then it is Gloeden.
Which is nonsense.

This said, the book is a nice object, printed in colours (of course the pix themselves are black and white), oversize, displaying for the first time scores of pictures never seen before. Hence my 4 stars, the mess notwithstanding.

However the book does *not* deal with Gloeden and Taormina (alone), but rather with different kinds of pictures (from art to softporn) of the male nude from Italy between 1880 and 1920.

If you look for the real thing, I mean Gloeden himself, then go for other editions (there are plenty of them, most of them much cheaper).
But if you are looking for the catalogue of a private collection put together with Italian male nudes between 1880 and 1930, then this book is very very nice, though a bit costly.


Great, sexy kitsch   January 6, 2003
 3 out of 4 found this review helpful

Forget about cloaking these shots with the guise of "art".
Von Gloeden kept the laurel wreathes, but somehow forgot the fig leaves. These photos are fun for what they are---the first (acknowleged by its creator) gay softcore porn. Many of them are positively hilarious, but, seemingly by accident, some are actually quite beautiful.


A lover of youth   September 30, 1999
 8 out of 9 found this review helpful

The baron was a lover of youth and the beauty that that portarys and it shows in his images. He captures the natural sensuality of his models in a truthfull and honest moment. He is as insynch now with my own desires as he was with his patrons. One of which was a priest who died recently who had a collection of more then 300 of his plates, a find that will entrall us all if or when they are released. If you love boys you will love this.


Essential for the collector of gay artistic self-expression   November 29, 1998
 8 out of 8 found this review helpful

A contemporary of the greats (Oscar Wilde, poets, the avante guarde of his generation), the Baron was an unabashed lover of the male nude. Obviously very persuasive, he was well-loved by his models. Nazi criminals later destroyed much of his work, but what remains is air and light to us all. Unabashedly, he was a living example of self-esteem, positive body image, and love of art for itself. Many today pay thousands to achieve the certainty of self-realization he so efortlessly showed in each and every print. Their historical value alone is unmeasurable, as the plates that each image was made from is unique and irreplaceable. The Nazi hammers on the glass plates horrifies me as the burning of the libraries of Alexandria must have others at that time. Buy this book! Show it proudly!