From the earliest era of fine art, when great artists concluded that beauty in the natural world begins with the human form, the vast majority of them focused on females. No longer. We’re now living in an era of artistic discovery. Creative pioneers, those adventurous enough and driven by the beauty of the masculine form, have been blazing new trails for a while. Painters, sculptors, photographers, writers and choreographers, artists of all kinds are following their inspirations and giving us the magic and mystery of men in the form of art. Add to this list of pioneers a man that publishes a quarterly magazine that presents the art of man, the artists and their stories.
E. Gibbons may be the most eclectic person you’ll ever meet. He’s an artist (some of his work is pictured below). He has placed in the top 10 of a national invention contest with a product in the market for several years via “Staples.” He is considered an origami master, composer of original works for piano, and he is the author of over 25 books using many different pen names. He is a participant in both the NJ and NYC 9-11 memorial competitions, and founder of a small gallery in NJ that is a former firehouse. If that’s not enough, he’s also a teacher.
By E.Gibbons from the Cube Series
No, this isn’t a photograph, which you might have assumed on first glance. Gibbons is considered a passionate master of monochromatic oil painting with neoclassical roots. His work has been featured in exhibitions from coast to coast, and internationally in such places as Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Paris, France, Seoul, Korea, Osaka, Japan and Alexandria, Egypt. 
By E. Gibbons, Tim (oil on canvas)
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The magazine:
The Art of Man is a fine arts quarterly journal that seeks to bring balance to a genre of art that overwhelmingly favors the female figure. Every edition includes an historical reference, article on the fine art of the male figure, a directory of over 150 artists, and in-depth interviews with 5 artists that are courageous enough to focus on the male figure as a significant portion of their portfolio.
This journal does NOT include erotic imagery, photography, cartoons or digital art but focuses instead on classical images in traditional media like painting, drawing and sculpture.
A sample page from The Art of Man
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You’ll read insightful artist’s interviews in every issue:
Excerpt from an interview with Ron Griswold.
Art of Man: Why do you paint the male form?
Ron Griswold: Painting the male form is simply one of the genres with which I am comfortable. First of all, the human form is a challenge to draw and paint and I like a challenge. Second, the female form has so much history. When I work with the male form I can get closer to a personal expression without influence. Third, I use the figure studies to free my hand. Having a general tendency to get really tight, with the figure studies I allow myself to be loose. They are probably closer to drawing than painting, which is the edge I explore a lot when I’m working with the figure.
Art of Man: Have you encountered resistance or acceptance in having the male figure in your work?
Ron Griswold: Both. However there are a lot of people who are happy that the male form is being seriously explored as a subject. A market is definitely there, maybe even a bit pent-up.
Art of Man: Do you see a change in the resistance or acceptance of the male figure as subject?
Ron Griswold: Well, yes. Times change. There are a lot more artists working seriously with the male form today. Back when I first started working with the male figure, eBay had just started up and that is where I sold my first figure works. There were only a couple of artists selling on eBay at the time and there is a better than fifty-fifty chance that I was the first to discover the “male nude” category. Now there are a lot of good artists offering work there. So things move forward and a general acceptance is the track we’re on.
Samples of the artist’s work accompany each interview: 
By Ron Griswold, The Damnation Continue reading →
