James Anderson Hercules albumen print on paper 7 3/4 in x 10 1/4 in (19.6 cm x 26 cm);14 5/16 in x 19 5/16 in (36.35 cm x 49.05 cm);10 3/16 in x 7 13/16 in (25.9 cm x 19.9 cm);9 13/16 in x 7 13/16 in (24.9 cm x 19.9 cm) Transfer from the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology
Rick Chapman Lance Armstrong, Austin, Texas, from "The ESPY Collection" gelatin silver print on paper 14 in x 10 15/16 in (35.5 cm x 27.8 cm);22 1/8 in x 18 1/8 in (56.2 cm x 46.04 cm);10 3/16 in x 10 3/16 in (25.8 cm x 25.8 cm) Gift of the artist
Rick Chapman Sammy Sosa, Chicago, Illinois, from "The ESPY Collection" gelatin silver print on paper 14 in x 10 15/16 in (35.5 cm x 27.8 cm) Gift of the artist
Artist Unknown Muhammad Ali black and white photograph on paper 8 x 9 13/16 in. ( 20.32 x 24.92 cm ) Gift from the Collection of David S. Rosen MD, MPH
Gerrit A. Beneker The Past is Behind Us, The Future is Ahead. Let Us All Strive to Make the Future Better and Brighter than the Past Ever Was. color lithograph on paper 19 15/16 x 15 in. (50.5 x 38 cm) Gift of Mr. Maurice F. Lyons
Moses Oley Worker with Mallet lithograph on paper 16 ¼ in x 12 ¼ in (41.28 cm x 31.12 cm);16 ¼ in x 12 ¼ in (41.28 cm x 31.12 cm) Allocated by the U.S. Government
Commissioned through the New Deal art projects
Danny Lyon The Yard, from "Conversations with the Dead" gelatin silver print on paper 11 x 14 in. ( 27.94 x 35.56 cm ) Gift of Thomas Wilson '79 and Jill Garling '80
Danny Lyon Building Shakedown, from "Conversations with the Dead" gelatin silver print on paper 11 x 14 in. ( 27.94 x 35.56 cm ) Gift of Thomas Wilson '79 and Jill Garling '80
In "Houdini, Tarzan, and the Perfect Man: The White Male Body and the Challenge of Modernity," John Kasson discusses Eugen Sandow, known as the "father of modern bodybuilding." Kasson quotes a review of one of Sandow's turn-of-the-20th-century stage shows, where the audience expressed that "it was hard… to
believe that it was indeed flesh and blood that they beheld. Such knots and
bunches and layers of muscle that they had never before seen…" After Sandow's rise to prominence, the muscular male physique moved from an object
of curiosity to one of adoration, lust, and reverence.
The objects in this resource highlight the muscular male body in many different ways: classical sculpture, physique photography, contemporary collage, and more. Why does muscularity serve as an index for masculinity? How do the visual styles of these objects change the way we perceive the men depicted?