His illustrations have helped defined masculinity and launched countless fantasies over the decades, but you’ll soon learn everything about the man behind the Tom of Finland phenomenon with an upcoming biopic of artist Touko Laaksonen.
The film will be directed by Dome Karukoski with shooting expected to begin in Sweden this Spring and seems to be unrelated to an earlier proposed biopic, that was unauthorized by the estate.
“This is the story of a man ahead of his time, bravely standing up against a world virulently against his right to be who he was – a homosexual man with homosexual fantasies,” Karukoski said in a statement to the media. “The story shows how literally one person can create change in the world, even with something as simple as an artist’s tools.”
Related: Sexy, Iconic Tom Of Finland Images Are Now Postage Stamps
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The cast of the film will be announced Sunday during the Berlin Film Festival.
Read more about Laaksonen here (link NSFW).
Billy Budd
Awesome. He was a brilliant artist.
Billy Budd
I have the book by TASCHEN, named Tom of Finland XXL. It is gorgeous and so masculine. I love ToF. We have the same desires.
Captain Obvious
His drawings all have black features. Interesting.
Guy068
Is there anything out there about the man whose byline was always ‘art by Sean’? I’ve only ever found one site online and it doesn’t feature the one work that’s always stuck with me…
Brian
Tom of Finland is a highly stylized fantasy figure not dissimilar to the blonde bimbo with a tiny waist and enormous bosoms. In real life, you might meet such a man once in a blue moon but you’d be crazy to think he’s going to sweep you off your feet.
Billy Budd
You don’t have to fuck the guys in order to admire them.
joeyty
Might be very interesting historically. He definitely had a certain grotesque sexy style. I remember him saying he hated everything the Nazis stood for but, with his uniform fetish, he just had to draw them (they were all around Helsinki during WWII).
MacAdvisor
Ah, the Thomas Kinked of the male gay world.
Sammy Schlipshit
Wait!!!! What? There is already a documentary of Tom….
Daddy and the Muscle Academy.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104045/?ref_=nm_flmg_slf_2
Kangol
@Sammy Schlipshit: The documentary is very good.
There should be a documentary on the Hun (Bill Schmeling), another famous sex-positive gay porn artist. His images make Tom of Finland’s seem like child’s play at times. He’s still alive, I think.
Very NSFW: Gay News:
The Hun’s Pornographic Universe Of Dominance And Submission and Artist Spotlight: The Hun
joeyty
@Kangol: Etienne ( Chicago-based, with the Chuck Renslow crowd) was the best, in my opinion.