Did they have homosexual desires? Some might say that artists like George Bellows certainly seem likely to have had at least a thought or two in that direction. So what we are referring to here when we say 'straight' is that these men were assumed to be heterosexual at the time they lived. After all, Oscar Wilde was married with kids. Secondly, let’s talk about the term 'straight.' Just as many artists cannot be verified as gay - a term that had little relevance in their time - neither can someone be categorically called straight without the allowance for the hugely different cultural standpoint we have in this century. That whole idea is false, of course, but it was prevalent for a long time, even into the 20th century, despite the number of successful female artists. At the turn of the last century it was thought that a polite woman would avert her eyes from any depiction of male nudity. So any art depicting men in an erotic way was made for other men. Art was made for a male audience and male patronage.
Most of the art here was from a time when art was considered of interest only to men.
So, before the outraged comments on this post break the internet, let’s calmly discuss a few things.įirst of all, the word 'homoerotic.' What we are referring to here is art that has a sexual or sensual approach to the male body, or is appealing in its masculinity and homosocial situation.
