This September the Finnish postal service will release a collection of stamps honouring the work of famous homoerotic artist Tom of Finland who created some of the most iconic imagery of Western gay culture.
Tom of Finland (real name Touko Laaksonen) produced more than 3,500 images during his career. The ones appearing on the set, which contains three First Class adhesive stamps, are untitled, graphite on paper and date from 1978 to 1979.
The launch of the stamps coincides with the inauguration of an exhibition, Sealed With A Secret – Correspondence of Tom of Finland, which opens at the Postal Museum in Tampere, Finland on September 8th and runs until March 29th 2015.
The show will reveal the lesser-known, yet equally masterful side of the multi-talented artist, that is, as an ardent and fine writer, and a humane observer of his times. The correspondence ranges from Finland’s war years in the 1940s up until Laaksonen’s death in 1991.
Durk Dehner, president and cofounder of the Tom of Finland Foundation, said, “These are very exciting times in Finland as the country rediscovers one of its national heroes.
The stamp, the exhibition, new books and the film on Tom of Finland by Helsinki-Filmi’s Aleksi Bardy and Dome Karukoski, will reveal all the layers of the artist and his amazing contributions to the world.”
