Gorgeous Gallery the Best in Gay Erotic: The Best in Gay Erotic Art Hardcover – January 1, 2012

Beautiful Coffee table book with many many artists represented and lovely reproductions of art works........but very short on Bios and media. Let's one have the ability to do more research on Google if you are interested in an Artist !Very well done otherwise and is a welcome addition to my collection of books on this subject.

No disappointment at all with the book - gorgeous indeed. Recommend it for those how are looking for something different

I have long admired the work of David Leddick, I own several of his books. His keen eye for the figure is beyond doubt. If you collect work by Leddick, you should have this book in your collection as well.The Good: Including Don Bachardy, Andy Warhol, and David Hockney in a collection of male figurative work is an admirable "get" that "100 Artists of the Male Figure," and its predecessor "Powerfully Beautiful" were unable to accomplish -- likely due to the well deserved cachet of the Leddick name.The Confusing: Why the beautifully executed and classical figures of Fanelli, Hemple, or Leonard should be included in a collection that also features semen soaked blokes is jarring. I fully recognize that one can and does collect work by both erotic and non-erotic artists -- and that many erotic artists, Felix d'Eon for example, also create work that is classical in tone -- the juxtaposition here feels disjointed. I would also say that some of the talent featured feels uneven.David's curatorial eye is impeccable, the addition of works that make the book feel dissonant are likely due to Publisher Gmunder who were well on their way to publishing a more classically themed book in 2010 but nixed it when the CEO demanded the inclusion of overt sexual content.So if you seek a platter of male figures peppered with erotica, then this spicy dish is for you! If you hope to buy a book you can leave on the coffee table when mixed-company arrives, I think this book is best left under your bed.

Great collection of male erotic art.

Great survey of artistic talent

Fun book to own!

This inside cover flap statement by author/curator David Leddick rather sums up this very spectacular book that will surprise the legion of followers that David Leddick enjoys. He has published not only some vey fine novels, but he is perhaps best known for his always erudite and entertaining introductions to books on art: anthologies seem to be his metre. He may be providing information about erotic art but it is always with a style of academic dignity.GORGEOUS GALLERY is somewhat of an exception for Leddick. This time around he has created a book that begins with a lucid, detailed history of `Homoerotic Art Through History' form the Greeks and Romans to the present. Opening with a tongue in cheek discussion about the prudish public afraid to accept that art can be erotic (`This is an idea that has been strongly resisted in our still oh-so puritan United States. Porn is something that you receive in a plain wrapper and regard in the privacy of your bedroom or closet.'), and then proceeds to give written and visual examples of the eroticism in the art of the master, carrying his historical path through the ages to the present. He ten divides his book into time chapters - Contemporary, Avant-Garde, and Classics - each chapter including artists who have chose one of these three pathways to present the male nude.And then the fun begins. Every artist in this book is represented by a brief but concise biography and examples (often full page sized) of their work. In the Contemporary sector he includes Don Bachardy, David Hockney, Michael Leonard, Steve Walker (whose painting graces the cover), Wes Hempel, Joseph Fanielli, Andy Warhol and others. In the Avant-Garde section he places Jack Balas, Miguel Angel Reyes, Marc Ming Chan (a thrillingly brilliant draughtsman!), the dichotomous Mark Beard/Bruce Sergeant, and others. And in the Classics division we find Paul Cadmus, Pavel Tchelitchew, Darold Perkins and others who and other artists whose blatant, in your face eroticism references Leddick's opening comments on pornography!So why is this collection so different from Leddick's previous anthologies? Certainly other first rate books such as `100 ARTISTS OF THE MALE FIGURE' present an equal number of excellent artists, but it seems this is the first book that unabashedly includes erotica in its presentation of artists who paint or draw the male figure. It is a rich, stylish, beautifully designed and produced book and a very fine addition to the library of gender studies. Grady Harp, July 12

Although I am impressed with the large and diverse collection of artists, I am dissapointed in the dept and analysis of the work. It feels a bit like 'loose sand'. On a positive note, the used paper is quite good... ;-)  Gorgeous Gallery

Lavish illustrations. It covers a broad sweep of gay art in human history and shows just for how long gays have been contributing to the Human Story.