June 14, 2022
Interpreting Dreams of Ultimate Masculinity, Drawing Them… and Now Smelling Them
“My whole life long I have done nothing but interpret my dreams of ultimate masculinity, and draw them.” – Tom of Finland. And now, we can smell them too.
In honor of Tom Of Finland Foundation’s 102nd birthday and #TomofFinlandDay on May 8th every year, we are turning the spotlight onto Tom of Finland. A fragrance that is one of the most Avante-Garde, provocative, and rebellious works of art.
In honor of Tom Of Finland Foundation’s 102nd birthday and #TomofFinlandDay on May 8th every year, we are turning the spotlight onto Tom of Finland. A fragrance that is one of the most Avante-Garde, provocative, and rebellious works of art.
Tom of Finland (born Tuoko Laaksonen, 1920–1991) was a cultural icon and ground-breaking artist who, through his work, celebrated the male figure and masculinity during a time when being homosexual would make a target of violence, bullying, and land you in prison. In his heroic homoerotic drawings – starring hyper-masculine hunks, clad in uniforms or leather gear, all bulging muscles and members – he fearlessly confronted a system that denied freedom, legality, and fundamental rights to the gay community.
“I know my little 'dirty drawings' are never going to hang in the main salons of the Louvre, but it would be nice if - I would like to say 'when,' but I better say 'if' - our world learns to accept all the different ways of loving. Then maybe I could have a place in one of the smaller side rooms.”
– Tom of Finland
– Tom of Finland
Tom of Finland Foundation brings erotic art to Venice this year, which combines Tom of Finland’s illustrations with erotic artists that came before and after. In the decade before his death, he lived in Los Angeles’ Echo Park neighbourhood, where until the last days of his death, he kept adding to his catalogue of sexually liberated, libidinally charged illustrations of muscular men. The Echo Park home is known as ‘Tom House’ with 14 rooms and over 3,500 works of erotic art and over 100,000 pieces of ephemera, memorabilia and objects.
The foundation’s new group exhibition ‘AllTogether’ at Studio Cannaregio (23 April – 26 June 2022), captures the essence of erotic and domestic: a collection of nude photographs of men in the mirror, plastic phalluses, mugs, figurines, Tom of Finland-branded vodka and more. ‘AllTogether’ captures the spirit of those who have passed through Tom House in 3 decades and more. With 80 works across mediums of paintings, sculptures, photographs, film, illustrations and printed objects, ‘AllTogether’ matches the 59th edition of the Venice Biennale, the first post pandemic.
The foundation’s new group exhibition ‘AllTogether’ at Studio Cannaregio (23 April – 26 June 2022), captures the essence of erotic and domestic: a collection of nude photographs of men in the mirror, plastic phalluses, mugs, figurines, Tom of Finland-branded vodka and more. ‘AllTogether’ captures the spirit of those who have passed through Tom House in 3 decades and more. With 80 works across mediums of paintings, sculptures, photographs, film, illustrations and printed objects, ‘AllTogether’ matches the 59th edition of the Venice Biennale, the first post pandemic.
The fragrance Tom of Finland by Etat Libre d’Orange follows in these defiant olfactory footsteps with notes of fresh leather mingling with lemon and aldehydes, the quintessential masculine blend of a lumberjack forest of birch and pine. Wrap the whole composition into a suede corset with a touch of vetiver, nutty tonka bean, sexual trail of dirty musk, and animalic ambergris, and the result is Tom of Finland, he is beyond sexuality - he is sex, in all its fullness and magnitude, open and erect.
Tom of Finland Foundation’s original goal was to preserve the artist’s vast catalog of work, but it has evolved exponentially into a movement. We at Etat Libre d’Orange have always stood for inclusivity, rebellion, and creativity, and we look forward to having our fragrance continue its mission for generations to come.
P.S. Tom of Finland is also available at the West Hollywood storefront, a quintessential cultural haven for all things Tom of Finland.
P.S. Tom of Finland is also available at the West Hollywood storefront, a quintessential cultural haven for all things Tom of Finland.