George Platt Lynes was lauded as one the world’s top commercial photographers in the first half of the 20th century, known for his portraits of important cultural figures, surreal fashion shoots and innovative use of lighting and evocative sets. However, in an era when homosexuality was considered a crime, Lynes had to keep secret his best work: erotic nude photographs of men.
Born in 1907 in New Jersey, Lynes attended the Berkshire School in Sheffield, Massachusetts, graduating in 1925. In his youth, Lynes had dreamed of becoming a writer. He published a literary journal and opened a bookstore, both of which were unsuccessful. When he inherited a trove of photographic equipment from a friend, Lynes turned his focus toward a career in photography.
Self-taught, Lynes proved to be a gifted talent behind the camera. His preternatural understanding of the interplay between light, shadow and form garnered critical acclaim. In 1932, Lynes had his first solo exhibition, at Leggett Gallery, followed by a two-artist show with photographer Walker Evans at Julien Levy Gallery. By 1933, Lynes became a central figure in New York photography, whose stylized technique was sought by magazines such as Harper’s Bazaar, Town & Country and Vogue.
In 1935, the American Ballet Company (now the New York City Ballet) commissioned Lynes to photograph their principal dancers and performances, leading to Lynes’s appointment as the company’s primary photographer for the next 20 years.
While Lynes enjoyed immense success as a fashion and commercial photographer from the 1930s to the 1950s, he was secretly photographing male nudes — a subject considered highly taboo at the time. Fearing criminal reprisal, Lynes hid the photos and his sexual orientation from the public, sharing his work with a few select friends. Among them was Dr. Alfred Kinsey, founder of the Kinsey Institute, who, in the late 1940s, was researching human sexuality. Enthralled by Lynes’s figurative, black and white photos of the male form, Kinsey purchased more than 600 prints and several hundred negatives at the risk of prosecution.
After he was diagnosed with lung cancer, in 1955, Lynes destroyed many of his negatives and prints. However, he entrusted a sizeable volume of his male nudes to the Kinsey Institute, which today holds the largest collection of Lynes’s works, second only to the Lynes estate. In 2019, an exhibition of images culled from the Kinsey collection, “Sensual/Sexual/Social: The Photography of George Platt Lynes,” was held at the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields.
Long after his death, Lynes’s legacy has shaped the evolution of sexual and gender norms. His works are highly sought by galleries and collectors of modern and contemporary photography.
On 1stDibs, discover a range of George Platt Lynes photography.
George Platt Lynes Original B&W Fashion Photograph from Vogue Magazine
By George Platt Lynes
Located in Palm Springs, CA
This silver gelatin photograph was printed in New York City in the 1990s from the original negative. George Platt Lynes (1907 to 1955) was a legenda...
Other
George Platt Lynes Original B&W Fashion Photograph Portrait, Vogue Magazine
By George Platt Lynes
Located in Palm Springs, CA
This silver gelatin photograph was printed in New York City in the 1990s from the original negative. George Platt Lynes (1907 to 1955) was a legenda...
Other
George Platt Lynes Original B&W Fashion Photograph, Metropolitan Museum Art
By George Platt Lynes
Located in Palm Springs, CA
The silver gelatin photograph was printed by the photography department of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City in the 1990s frim the original negative. George Platt Lynes...
Other
George Platt Lynes Original B&W Photograph, Ruth Elizabeth Ford, Framed
By George Platt Lynes
Located in Palm Springs, CA
This silver gelatin photograph was printed in 1999 from the original negative by the Robert Miller Gallery in New York City with permission from the estate of the artist. George Platt Lynes...
Other
George Platt Lynes 1930s Photograph of Princess Natalie Paley
By George Platt Lynes
Located in New York, NY
This photograph by George Platt Lynes is unusual for having three exposures of the Russian princess Natalie Paley, the celebrated beauty, and the wife...
Lake George Vintage Photograph, circa 1910
Located in St.Petersburg, FL
An unusual photograph, circa 1910-1920 where the letters Lake George are made of cutout photographs. Original frame-really a unique object with character and timeless character. Lak...
Paper
Original Photography by Robert Kent Sharpe, Metropolitan Museum
By Robert Kent Sharpe
Located in North Miami, FL
This is an original vintage photograph from Robert Kent Sharpe's (1930-2016) personal collection. This is a series of Mr. Sharpe's human observation and the interplay of art and peop...
Paper
Nicola Majocchi Photograph Safari Fashion, 2001
By Nicola Majocchi 1
Located in Palm Springs, CA
Our gallery is pleased to be have the opportunity to represent the internationally renowned Photographer Nicola Majocchi. The photograph is stretched and framed in a black wood free ...
Canvas
Framed Photograph by John Patrick Dugdale
By John Dugdale
Located in Atlanta, GA
Artist: John Patrick Dugdale (New York, b. 1960) Title: The Spirit Eye Medium: Cyanotype Year: 1998 Edition: number 3/12 Measurement: H 14", W 11"...
Wood, Paper
$1,100
H 16 in W 20 in D 0.5 in
Vinatge Original Photograph Male Nude Toned Photograph by George Machado S/N Ed.
By George Machado
Located in Palm Springs, CA
This is one of the series of original George Machado photographs being offered for sale in 30 years from his "Masculine" series. Masculine was his 1st coffee table book published by ...
Paper
$94 / item
H 14.97 in W 20.48 in D 0.04 in
Alpine Ski Photograph 'LIEBE IM SCHNEE' Taken from 1930s Original
Located in Oxfordshire, GB
Vintage, Alpine Ski photograph. 'LIEBE IM SCHNEE', a new mounted black and white photographic image after an original 1930s skiing photograph. Black and white alpine photos are the perfect addition to any home or ski lodge. Prior to being a recreational activity skiing was purely a means of travelling from A to B through the snow, it only started to become the sport it is today in the mid-1800s. 'Liebe im schnee oder: Wie man's macht' or 'Love in the snow or: How to do it'. The price displayed is for the mounted photo only. Image size 25.5cm x 40cm = 10 X 15 ½" ". The alpine photograph...
Paper
$360
H 10 in W 8 in D 0.5 in
Vintage Small B&W Male Nude Silver Gelatin Original Photograph by George Machado
By George Machado
Located in Palm Springs, CA
This original B&W photograph (not a copy of the original or a computer generated print) is being offered for sale for the first time. Taken by fashion designer/photographer George Ma...
Paper
Original Photograph by Cleo Sullivan
Located in Asbury Park, NJ
Entitled "Kumi" - a 16" x 20" C print from negative in black wooden frame with white matte. Included is valid documentation of its original sale.
"The Divers" Sepia Photograph After George Hoyningen-Huene
By George Hoyningen-Huene
Located in New York, NY
"The Divers", by famed photographer George Hoyningen-Huene, c. 1930, printed later. Unsigned. Seemingly shot on the French Riviera, the grand make-believe and glamour of this famous ...
Paper
1934 Remie Lohse Photograph for Vogue
By Remie Lohse
Located in New York, NY
Remie Lohse was born in Puerto Rico, studied painting in Denmark, and settled in New York in 1928, where he became a professional photographer. In the 1930s he was a freelancer who specialized in advertising and magazine features, and shot covers for Vogue. If he often focused on the high life, seen in this couple stepping out on the town, he also shot humble subjects. He was more interested in his art than a particular milieu, and many of his photographs are little masterpieces. His contemporary Gilbert Seldes, the noted Vanity Fair media critic and “public intellectual” (not to mention father of actress Marian Seldes), featured Lohse in his 1934 book 'This is New York, The First Modern Photographic Book of New York.' In 1939 Lohse came out with his own book titled 'The Miniature Camera in Professional Hands.' Our photograph was one of three shot by Lohse for a 1934 Vogue article titled “High Spots and Low Music." If the photograph (image size 4 1/4" x 6") show a couple making the nocturnal rounds of Manhattan restaurants, bars, and jazz clubs, the story itself also covers the daytime meeting places of the ladies who lunch. The twist is that Lohse’s model was the author herself, Elena Mumm Thornton, and her husband James Worth...
Paper
Børge Mogensen - Framed Photograph C, 1960
By Børge Mogensen
Located in Los Angeles, CA
wonderful framed photograph depicting Børge Mogensen's house at Soløsevej in Gentofte, Denmark. Picture frame by Børge Mogensen in solid oregon pine with brass corner details made in...
Wood, Paper
Contemporary Photograph of a Sliced Apple
Located in Sheffield, MA
Caroline Kaars Sypesteyn of Berkshire Artisanal is the artist who has created this black-and-white photographic print on linen of a sliced apple. Titled "Apple Portfolio Print." The ...
Linen, Wood
Sold
H 8 in W 10 in D 0.5 in
George Platt Lynes, Charles Roman on Artist’s Bed, Silver Gelatin Print, 1955
By George Platt Lynes
Located in Brooklyn, NY
George Platt Lynes, Charles Roman on Artist’s bed, Silver Gelatin Print, 1955 George Platt Lynes (American 1907-1955) Untitled (reclining nude)...
Paper