Olaf Odegaard

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Olaf
Odegaard rehearsing Rashomon in 1959
Born(1938-12-15)December 15, 1938
Wisconsin
DiedDecember 25, 1997(1997-12-25) (aged 59)
Los Angeles, California
NationalityAmerican
Known forErotic drawing

Olaf Odegaard (December 15, 1938 – December 25, 1997), better known by his pen name Olaf,[1] was an American artist and playwright active in the latter half of the twentieth century, known for his homoerotic illustrations.[2]

Olaf's art explores themes such as the devil, satyrs, and BDSM, including master/slave relationships.[2] He is most well known for his graphite pencil drawings.[2]

Biography

Olaf was born in Wisconsin.[2] He graduated from Carroll College in Waukesha in 1961.[3] Olaf was actively involved in campus life at university.[4] He variously wrote, directed, crewed, or starred in multiple theater productions including Macbeth,[5] The Lady's Not For Burning,[6] and Rashomon.[7][4][8] He joined the Phi Theta Pi fraternity in 1958[5] became president of Alpha Psi Omega in 1960,[9] and won numerous awards and honors for art and theater.[10][11][6] In 1961, he won second place in the President's Cup oratory contest for a speech in which he "suggested that pornographic or "sick" humor is gradually replacing clever satire."[10] That same year, Olaf and several classmates appeared on the television show "About Faces."[6]

Olaf continued his education at Harvard Divinity School and the University of Tokyo, after which he obtained a Master of Fine Arts in play-writing from the University of Hawaii.[2][3]

Olaf's erotic artwork gained prominence through features in Drummer magazine.[12][13] In 1985, 30 of his erotic illustrations were published in Personals: Only Real Men Need Reply by Glenlee Enterprises; a portion of all sales from the book were donated to charity for AIDS victims.[14]

In 1986, Olaf organized Naked Eyes, an artist showcase highlighting gay men's visual art for the International Gay and Lesbian Archives.[15]

Olaf reportedly lived a solitary life and struggled with housing insecurity.[2][12] However, he developed close relationships with Jim Kepner and Durk Dehner, both of whom supported Olaf at times to prevent him from becoming homeless.[2] With Dehner's help, Olaf moved into a home in Silver Lake, Los Angeles.[12]

In 1996, Dehner and the Tom of Finland Company published a 64-page book of Olaf's work entitled Beasts and Beauties: The Erotic Art of Olaf.[2][16]

Cultural impact and legacy

The Tom of Finland Foundation proclaimed Olaf to be the "erotic master of the graphite pencil"[2] and one of the "greats" among Tom of Finland, Etienne, and Domino.[12]

Olaf's remaining works were sold upon his death to fund his nephew's education.[2] Although much of his art entered private collections,[17][12] some of his works were acquired by the Leather Archives & Museum,[18] ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives, Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, and Tom of Finland Foundation.[2][19][15][1]

In 2015, Olaf's art was featured in The Stonewall Nation, a book and film by Sille Storihle exploring the history of the Stonewall Nation movement.[19][20] Chuck Conner and Sean Platter cited Olaf as an inspiration for their 2008 comic series DEMONICSEX.[21][22]

In 2016 Olaf's work was featured in a retrospective by the GLBT Historical Society entitled "Stroke: From Under the Mattress to the Museum Walls."[17] That same year he also featured in Cock, Paper, Scissors, an exhibition and book published by the ONE Archives in collaboration with the Leslie-Lohman Museum.[23][24]

References

  1. ^ a b "Odegaard, Olaf - (AKA Olaf)". Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Hooven, Valentine (ed.). "Dispatch Fall/Winter 1997". Tom of Finland Foundation. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
  3. ^ a b "The Carroll Echo". Carroll Echo. Vol. VII, no. 15. 1962-03-09. Retrieved 2024-06-16 – via Carroll University Archives.
  4. ^ a b "The Carroll Echo". Carroll Echo. Vol. III, no. 9. 1958-02-28 – via Carroll University Archives.
  5. ^ a b "The Carroll Echo". Carroll Echo. Vol. IV, no. 4. 1958-11-07. Retrieved 2024-06-16 – via Carroll University Archives.
  6. ^ a b c "The Carroll Echo". Carroll Echo. Vol. VI, no. 13. 1961-05-05. Retrieved 2024-06-16 – via Carroll University Archives.
  7. ^ "The Carroll Echo". Carroll Echo. Vol. V, no. 2. 1959-10-16 – via Carroll University Archives.
  8. ^ "The Carroll Echo". Carroll Echo. Vol. V, no. 11. 1960-03-18 – via Carroll University Archives.
  9. ^ "The Carroll Echo". Carroll Echo. Vol. V, no. 15. 1960-05-27. Retrieved 2024-06-16 – via Carroll University Archives.
  10. ^ a b "The Carroll Echo". The Carroll Echo. Vol. VI, no. 14. 1961-05-26 – via Carroll University Archives.
  11. ^ "The Carroll Echo". Carroll Echo. Vol. IV, no. 11. 1959-03-25 – via Carroll University Archives.
  12. ^ a b c d e ""AllTogether" | Michael Kirwan, Olaf and Palanca". Tom of Finland Foundation. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
  13. ^ "THE ART OF DRUMMER – 19th March – LA". Tom of Finland Foundation. Retrieved 2024-06-12.
  14. ^ "You're under arrest : Glenlee Enterprises proudly presents, The art of Olaf". USC Libraries. box 9 (box), P01317 (call number), one-2018001-p01317~01.tif (filename), one-c4-46158 (legacy record id). ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives. 1985. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  15. ^ a b "International Gay and Lesbian Archives records". Online Archive of California. Coll2012-002. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
  16. ^ Odegaard, Olaf (1996). Beasts & Beauties: The Erotic Art of Olaf. Tom of Finland Company.
  17. ^ a b "Stroke: From Under the Mattress to the Museum Walls". GLBT Historical Society. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
  18. ^ "Blond Portrait, Olaf Odegaard original art - Artwork (2006066101)". Leather Archives & Museum Collections Database. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  19. ^ a b "Sille Storihle: From Stonewall to Hollywood". PBS SoCal. 2015-01-09. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
  20. ^ "The Stonewall Nation". Printed Matter, Inc. ISBN 9788293104315. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
  21. ^ "DEMONICSEX". The Gift Shop of the Leather Archives & Museum. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  22. ^ Conner, Chuck (2008). Demonicsex: Satanic Tales of Transformation and Possession, Vol. 1 REPRINT. Illustrated by Sean Platter. Aardvark Global Publishing. ISBN 9781427631688.
  23. ^ "Books: Cock, Paper, Scissors". Advocate. 2016-08-01. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
  24. ^ "Cock, Paper, Scissors | One Archives". ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives. ISBN 978-0-9894072-1-2. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
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