Tom of Finland: Made in Germany

Under the pseudonym Tom of Finland, Touko Laaksonen became arguablythe most famous and influential Finnish artist of the 20th century.His iconic portrayal of self-confident and life-affirming gayness gave decisiveimpulse to the international gay movements from the 1960s onwards. But althoughwe clearly associate his portrayals of sensual and powerful cowboys,farm hands, policemen and leathermen with the USA, Tom of Finland’s rise togay icon received the decisive impetus neither in his native Finland nor in theUSA. It was, of all places, the city of Hamburg and Tom’s friendship with keyexponents of the local gay scene in the early 1970s that helped him to his firstexhibition ever and a series of seminal publications. He created a grand muralfor the legendary “Toms Bar”, until today the only one legitimately named afterhim. Regular commissions to design posters and ads for gay events in Hamburgallowed him to finally quit his day job as advertising executive, and led to thecreation of the most extensive private collection of his drawings to date.Galerie Judin is now devoting an exhibition and a comprehensive publicationto these seminal, but thus far little researched years, the art they generatedand the friendships they formed. The book includes texts by Juerg Judin, PayMatthis Karstens, Kati Mustola and Alice Delage.

• Tom of Finland (1920–1991) is one the most influential and celebrated figuresof 20th-century gay culture.