MALE NUDE: JOE DALLESANDRO: "FULL-FRONTAL" NUDE BLACK-AND-WHITE PHOTOGRAPH

Los Angeles, CA: Bruce Of Los Angeles. First Edition. First Printing.. Softcover. As New/No Dust Jacket, As Issued.. Los Angeles, CA: Bruce Of Los Angeles, . Softcover. As New/None, As Issued. First Edition/First Printing. 1 pages. Rare Joe Dallesandro collectible item. A vintage double-weight silver-gelatin photographic print of the young model/actor, as photographed by Bruce of Los Angeles. The print measures 8 X 10 inches and is encased in a thick archival plastic sheet reinforced with hard board backing. It shows Dallesandro at the absolute peak of his beauty: Young, handsome, and buffed. He is shown in a Classical supine/"lying-back" academic pose, with his full erection in a revealing angle. This is not a digital print or a later, contemporary print, but was printed directly from the original negative during Bruce of LA's lifetime. It is very beautifully developed, with great clarity and subtle contrasts, on Double-Weight Fiber Photographic Paper, the paper Bruce of LA used in his last years. "Coupled with the fact that it is unstamped but retains its white borders, it dates back to Bruce's lifetime rather than the later Kensington Road Era. Because this is one of the more erotic poses from Bruce's single session with Joe Dallesandro, it is a rare print in this large size and format" (Reed Massengill). Joe Dallesandro remains the cult icon/figure of Warhol's ground-breaking underground films, whose aesthetics, look, and style anticipate by more than fifty years the deliberately gritty sex films that appear routinely online today. Before he was discovered and turned into his very own superstar by Warhol, Joe Dallesandro was the muse of the so-called "physique" photographers, the "Silent" Golden Age of the American male nude, long gone but will always be cherished by cognoscenti-collectors. It was Bruce of Los Angeles who was the very first to photograph him, in exactly one session. Warhol avidly collected all of the so-called "physique" magazines, now a permanent part of the Warhol Foundation Collection. After his Warhol breakthrough, Dallesandro was subsequently photographed by Annie Leibovitz, Duane Michals, Jack Mitchell, Francesco Scavullo, and Richard Avedon, among other mainstream photographers. The Avedon prints are permanently displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This is the genuine article, an absolute "must-have" collectible, not just memorabilia, item for Joe Dallesandro collectors. This is an original vintage photographic print. It is very boldly and beautifully signed and inscribed in metallic-silver pen-marker in front by the model/actor: "To Reed, XXX Joe Dallesandro". The recipient, Reed Massengill, who is named, is the world's leading authority on male erotic art photography in America. As such, this print is what rare book collectors call an "association copy". According to Reed, Dallesandro told him that he does not sign his "fully-erect" poses, making an exception in Massengill's case. As far as we know, this is the only such signed and inscribed copy of the print available online, is eminently suitable for framing, and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: A collection of Dallesandro memorabilia (publicity stills, magazine covers, film outtakes; not one of them an original print) recently sold for $7500 at auction. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed print thus. One of the iconic American model/actors of the 20th century. A fine collectible print. .