May 26

Henry Scott Tuke, painter of homoerotic art

Henry Scott Tuke (1858-1929), was a successful British painter and photographer, best remembered for his paintings of naked boys and young men. He was a pioneer of homoerotic male culture.

Tuke was based in Falmouth, where he converted his boat, an old French brigantine, into a floating studio and living quarters. Onboard he posed his models and entertained in private. After unsuccessful attempts at using professional male models from London, Tuke eventually asked the local Falmouth lads to pose for him, and they became his exclusive subjects for his male nudes. Although he was also an accomplished portraitist with a notable career based in London, most of his works depict young men who swim, dive and lounge on a boat or on the beach. Wildly homoerotic, the paintings are not explicit, but display sensual, youthful male beauty.

His financial success at his career enabled him to travel and work in Italy, Greece, France, Albania and the West Indies. Tuke received many honors and awards, culminating in his election to the Royal Academy of Arts in 1914. He developed lasting connections with the Uranian poets and writers, who celebrated the infatuation of older men for adolescent boys.

He painted mostly in oils and watercolors, and his paintings of boats are highly regarded. He painted what has become a well-known portrait of T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia).

For forty years after his death Tuke’s works were largely forgotten. In the 1970s he was rediscovered by a new generation of openly gay artists and art collectors. Today he is a cult figure in gay art circles, with lavish editions of his paintings in print. His works fetch top prices at auctions.

Elton John owns one of the largest private collections of Tuke’s art, many of which he lends to museums for public exhibitions.