More than half a century after Harry Bush began drawing his sexy, playful men, they still know how to get attention.
Muscular, often barely dressed, and frequently caught in some cheeky situation, Bush’s men appeared in gay publications including Physique Pictorial, Drummer, Stroke, Mr. Sun, and In Touch. His work was unmistakably erotic, but there was also a sense of humor to it. These guys were sexy, and they seemed to be having a pretty good time.
Now, more than 30 years after Bush’s death in 1994, a new book is introducing his work and the man behind it to a new generation.
The cover of the forthcoming Harry Bush: His Art and His Life, co-edited by Hunter O'Hanian and Mischa Gawronski.Verlag Kettler
Harry Bush: His Art and His Life, set for release in spring 2027, is co-edited by Hunter O’Hanian and Mischa Gawronski. O’Hanian, the founding director of New York’s Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, is also writing the book’s biography of Bush. It will feature more than 100 pieces of Bush’s art, including previously unpublished work.
Bush served in the military during World War II and later worked at the Pentagon before returning to Southern California in the 1960s to pursue art. In 1965, one of his drawings appeared on the cover of Bob Mizer’s Physique Pictorial, kicking off a career that would span decades of gay publishing.
Putting together the new book required some serious digging. O’Hanian and the team researched hundreds of Bush’s letters and more than 2,000 pages of archival material held by LGBTQ+ museums, archives, and collections around the world.
The book is currently being supported through a Kickstarter campaign, giving a new generation the chance to discover Bush and, of course, all those barely dressed men.
Take a look at more of Harry Bush’s work below.
Bush frequently brought a cheeky sense of humor to his erotic drawings.Harry Bush / Harry Bush: His Art and His Life
One of Harry Bush's detailed illustrations of the male form.Harry Bush / Harry Bush: His Art and His Life
Harry Bush became known for detailed, homoerotic illustrations that mixed sex appeal with humor.Harry Bush / Harry Bush: His Art and His Life
