Vintage 1960s 4x5 ATHLETIC MODEL GUILD DW Print MARK NIXON + Physique Pictorial

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Vintage 1960s 4x5 ATHLETIC MODEL GUILD DW Print MARK NIXON + Physique Pictorial:
$155.50

Thissale is for the VINTAGE 4x5-INCH BLACK AND WHITE DOUBLEWEIGHT SILVER GELATIN PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINT OF ICONIC ATHLETIC MODEL GUILD (Bob Mizer) PHYSIQUE MODEL MARK NIXON, ACCOMPANIED BY A MINT CONDITION VINTAGE COPY OF PHYSIQUE PICTORIAL VOL. 10, #3 DATED JANUARY 1961. This beautiful print is stamped \"10\" verso, as shown in my second scan, and it dates to the era when this magazine issue was published in 1961.

MARK NIXON was one of the most widely publishedphysique models of the late 1950s and early 1960s (eclipsed, perhaps, only byGlenn Bishop and Steve Wengryn). He had received his primary education in theAtlanta public schools (through eighth grade) and spent his last four years ofhigh school at Culver Military Academy in Indiana. By the time he graduated, hehad earned six varsity letters -- three in swimming, two in cross-country andone in track. A talented artist, Nixon designed posters for Culver dramaproductions (in which he starred) and studied cartooning with Warner Williams.He also sang baritone for four years in the Culver choir, where he alsoexcelled, winning an Indiana state medal for excellence in voice through achoral competition. A genteel son of the South, whose family were farmers andwoolen mill owners, Nixon stunned the members of his senior class at theirgraduation when he chose, as his solo piece, a Negro spiritual. This was a boldchoice given the times, since civil rights legislation was still a decade inthe making. He later attended Washington University in St. Louis, workingtoward his B.F.A. in fashion design.

When he turned his attention toward becominga physique model, Nixon\'s start was surprisingly inauspicious, given his latersuccess. In 1955, he was grouped with a cluster of other physique hopefuls in Tomorrow\'sMan in a two-page feature entitled \"They Came So Close,\" showingtiny pictures of seven of the young men who didn\'t win a recent physiquephoto contest. Nixon was unaccustomed to losing, and this setback seems to havepropelled him to action. On a trip to New York about a year later, Nixon calledand made an appointment to pose for legendary photographer Lon of New York (LonHanagan), with whom Nixon shot his first frontal nudes. (They\'re exceedinglyrare, but they do exist. Swann Galleries saleed a beautiful print of one ofthese images several years ago.) Lon included photos of Nixon in issues of hismagazines Men and Art and Star Models, inspiring Nixon toapproach other photographers directly. In short order, he had worked with someof the best and most prolific camera artists in the business -- Don Whitman (WesternPhotography Guild), Bob Mizer (Athletic Model Guild), Chuck Renslow (Kris ofChicago) and Bruce Bellas (Bruce of Los Angeles), just to name a few.

After receiving his B.F.A. degree, Nixonmoved to Los Angeles and found work designing sportswear (some of it modeled byits creator in the pages of the physique magazines), and he later accepted adesign position in New York City with McGregor, one of the world\'s largestsportswear manufacturers. He soon grew disillusioned, however, and left his jobat McGregor to return to Los Angeles. There, he became involved in the designof a guesthouse behind his own home, and although he never trained (or waslicensed) as an architect, in the following years he increasingly turned hisattention toward the exterior and interior design of residences. Through thiswork, he met a young man who was then working in his family\'s furniturebusiness, but who was an aspiring photographer -- HERB RITTS. In 1978, adecade and a half after the height of Nixon\'s popularity, a few of Ritts\'photographs of the still-hunky Mark Nixon appeared in New York\'s After Darkmagazine, marking the beginning of one career and the end of another.

Little is known about Nixon subsequent to thefeature published in After Dark. In the late 1990s, it was reported thatNixon had been murdered by a live-in male companion at his vacation home inMexico, but those reports were never (to my knowledge) confirmed or elaboratedupon. (Anyone who\'s read this far and has additional information, please let meknow so I can augment my files.) The Social Security Death Index, however, doeslist a record for someone with Mark\'s name and birthdate who died on March 3,1998. Herb Ritts, who may have taken the last sexy photos of Nixon, died just afew years later in December 2002 of complications from AIDS.

This print is in EXCELLENT condition. This is a rare opportunity to own a beautiful vintage AMG print of this iconic and wildly popular physique model.The winner of this sale will receive not only this beautiful vintage photograph, but also will receive a mint condition copy of the issue of Physique Pictorial shown with my listing, which features Mark Nixon on the cover.I\'m starting this sale at a very reasonable opening offer amount, with FREE SHIPPING within the U.S.

WHY DO I OFFER FREE SHIPPING WITHIN THE U.S.? Because of \'sdecision to take a piece of sellers\' shipping costs, effectively triple-dippingby earning fees on my listings, fees on the PayPal transactions that aremandated, and fees on a portion of shipping costs. My stellar response attests to the fact that my U.S. buyersappreciate free shipping.

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