Loud and Queer

Greg Louganis: Olympic legend and LGBTQ+ activist

His diving performances were described as “poetry in motion”, but Greg Louganis’s legacy extends beyond his sporting achievements (5 Olympic medals, 5 world championship titles and 47 national titles to be exact): he is also widely recognised as a LGBTQ+ icon, who came out publicly in 1994 and, a year later, shared he had been HIV+ for seven years. His accomplishments have helped to dismantle the stigma around HIV, showing that the diagnosis did not prevent him from winning two Olympic gold medals in 1988.

Three of Louganis's Olympic medals – his 1988 Gold, 1984 Gold and 1976 Silver – will be exhibited at Bonhams Los Angeles, New York and London from this summer, before being offered for auction on 14 September in Los Angeles.

A portion of the proceeds will go to an HIV/AIDS service organisation that Louganis has long championed.

Gupta and Singh: Photography’s Power Couple 

Indian photographers Sunil Gupta and Charan Singh have been married for over 10 years, and are recognised for their distinctive style and approach to the medium. Gupta has exhibited globally over his four-decade career while Singh was the recipient of the Magnum/Photo London Award in 2016. 

Our exhibition A Queer Rehearsal: Photographs by Charan Singh & Sunil Gupta presents 10 of photographers’ works—some of their finest—spanning the entirety of their careers. Browse the works online now or visit our London, New Bond Street saleroom from 3–6 June, entry is free.

Ladies & Gentlemen

In 1975, Andy Warhol’s friends invited 14 drag queens and trans women from the queer scene around The Factory to be the Pop Artist’s sitters. Warhol took hundreds of photographs of them with his Polaroid camera —a selection were turned into silkscreen prints, now known as the Ladies & Gentlemen series. For decades, however, their identities were a mystery. It was not until 2014 that the Warhol Foundation named 13 of the 14 models.

Read more: Collecting 101 | Andy Warhol’s Most Iconic Prints

The Art of _: Supporting The Laurel Foundation

In May 2022, funds from The Art of _ auction went 100% to The Laurel Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation whose mission is to empower children, youth and families affected by HIV/AIDS, and transgender and gender diverse youth, through educational and support programmes in a safe and trusting environment.

For more information on The Laurel Foundation, please visit Laurel-Foundation.org

The art and activism of Zanele Muholi

Zanele Muholi’s photography captures intimate moments of love and compassion—as well as the traumatic repercussions of hate crime, often fatal—experienced within the Black LGBTQIA+ community in post-Apartheid South Africa.

Due to South Africa’s restrictions on ‘explicit’ content around race and sexuality, Muholi documents themselves in a variety of different locations abroad as a protest on how they can express themselves more safely and freely outside their country. Utilising found materials—sponges, safety pins and cables—their costumes and props allude to political, personal and cultural references, often focusing on the centrality of hair as a defining symbol of African identity and stylistic expression.

A house for Mr Khakhar 

Accountant by day and artist by night, Bhupen Khakhar had the freedom to paint what he wanted, when he wanted, without the pressure of commercial success. He often explored class and sexuality, including openly homosexual themes at a time when it was not generally addressed in India.

Khakhar's Residency Bungalow, however, is an important early work depicting the artistic residence that he moved into in 1968—the place where his signature style emerged and where Khakhar became the artist we know now. Priya Singh, Head of Sale, reveals the story behind the painting.

Manspreading at its finest 

With its masterful rending and unique portrayal of the male anatomy, Tom of Finland’s Untitled (Seated Man) “is an excellent example from the artist’s mature body of work from the late 1980s and demonstrates in rich detail his trademark homoerotic chiaroscuro and his iconic masculine imagery,” says Aaron Anderson, Associate Specialist of American Art in New York, and co-Head of Sale for The Male Form auction in Paris.

“Many of his drawings are based on photographs, but none are exact reproductions—always exaggerated and altered to create his ideal masculine beauty.”

Read more: Specialists' Top Picks from The Male Form

“A very fitting part of Stonewall’s legacy” 

When the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising was celebrated in 2019, Bonhams commemorated the moment with the auction Stonewall@50 Photographs Online, offering exceptional collection of photographs with a portion of the proceeds from this sale going to the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

“Fifty years after the Uprising, we've made remarkable strides toward equality both in the laws and in the eyes of our brothers and sisters. But this progress is incomplete,” said Sir Elton John, adding “I'm delighted that Bonhams' sale will help support the Elton John AIDS Foundation's efforts to save lives of some of the most vulnerable LGBT groups in the world. It is a very fitting part of Stonewall's legacy." 

Interview: Meet Henry Miller 

The London-based art dealer specialising in works on the male form talks about what inspired him to go into the art world and the works that changed his life.