(Visually over the line for kids and the sexually modest)
The sensuality of the male nude, at least as painter Ron Griswold — a recent Pinterest discovery — sees things. Which means not shrinking from the sexual element in the genre, but embracing it (NOAD on the adjective sensual: ‘relating to or involving gratification of the senses and physical, especially sexual, pleasure’), and that includes full frontal nudity in compositions where it seems appropriate to him (especially in paintings of male couples). And, in turn, that means everyday-sized penises, rather than the ascetically small genitals on heroic statues of classic antiquity and in Renaissance paintings in this tradition. RG brings us hot dudes with noticeable (but not obtrusive) cocks, yes, but they’re in high-art paintings depicting the beauty of the male body and the affection of lovers, and the paintings lavish as much attention on the faces of the men in them as on their packages.
I’m going to show you only one of RG’s male couples, but felt I had to justify flouting the WordPress ban on genitals by claiming the High-Art Serious-Intent Exemption for it — while warning my readers what’s about to come, so that they can opt out of viewing it if they wish; the painting (Nella Foresta) will come last in my three examples.
About RG. From the Ron Griswold fine art website’s “About” page, from an interview on Advocate.com:
Griswold gives you the male figure in a direct, emotional way — no coy justifications needed.
Ron Griswold is an accomplished artist whose work is in many private collections around the globe. He is mostly self-taught, and his style reflects his vision of the world. Born, raised, and still living in the panhandle of Florida, he worked as an editorial artist at the local newspaper for many years before giving it up to teach painting at the region’s state college. He then moved on to a full-time career as an artist.
Then from the interview:
Q: How do you choose your subjects?
A: I basically paint what is in front of me. I paint in several different genres. Each explores a different part of my journey. So I choose subject matter as it relates to the direction I feel the need to explore. The females come from a lot of personal mythology. With florals, I paint what is blooming in the yard and try to explore the genius of beauty. For the [male] nudes, the figure has to have a sensuality that is attuned to the way I express the sensuality of paint [AZ: I sometimes lose patience with artists explaining their works, as here]. The dolls explore the line where life isn’t explained just by having a breath. The landscapes have to be timeless so I can escape to them.
RG’s male art comes in several distinct genres. There are many paintings (not illustrated here) that are modern re-enactments of classical poses. Then there are a huge number of portraits, character studies of faces, like this one:
(#1) RG’s 7-22 #4, a head study; RG has done a great many head studies, head and shoulders works, and full-body portraits, must of them nudes
I note that RG is prodigiously prolific, but his enormous output includes many works meriting attention.
Then there’s s genre of echo paintings, with a repeated figure, in intense color (most often red, as here):
(#2) RG’s Red Echo
Finally, a few works in the male couple genre (with unapologetic full-frontal nudity):
(#3) RG’s Nella Foresta (‘in the forest’), a study in brown and white bodies (with the central figure, the white guy, in the classic contrapposto stance)
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