Husband Jeffery Turner
Queer Places:
3713 Cassia Trl Palm Springs, CA 92262
Jim French (born James Thomas French, July 14, 1932 – June 16, 2017) was an
American artist, illustrator, photographer, filmmaker, and publisher. He is
best known for his association with Colt Studio which he, using the pseudonym
Rip Colt,[1] (and with business partner Lou Thomas) created in late 1967.
Thomas parted from the endeavor in 1974 leaving French to continue to build
what would become one of the most successful gay male erotica companies in the
U.S. French left a legacy of homoerotic images in artwork, illustrations,
photo sets, slides, film, fine-art photographs, magazines, books and calendars
that presented his work exclusively and set a new standard in photography of
men.[2] French began drawing and photographing male erotica in the mid-1960s
while working as an illustrator and artist for Madison Avenue advertising
agencies. His first published book, Man, was issued in 1972.[3] It was one of
the first photo books of homoerotic full frontal nudes ever. Other books
include Another Man, Jim French Men, Quorum, Opus Deorum, Masc., The Art of
Jim French and The Art of the Male Nude. Publication of Colt magazines began
in 1969 with the digest-size "Manpower!". During the 1970s, French began
marketing his short films in 8mm format; they were soon collected on
video-cassette format, which were remastered for DVD format in the 1990s.
French's artwork and photography has been hailed as “iconic, groundbreaking,
and singularly influential.”[4] Victor Skrebneski writes in his introduction
to the monograph, Opus Deorum: "Jim French, master photographer, demonstrates
controlled intensity and passion for his work. His images bridge time, lock
memory, fire provocation. That is his art."[5]
French was formally trained at the Philadelphia Museum School of Art from 1950 to 1954 and went on active duty in the United States Army in 1955, having been in the reserves for two years prior to his enlisting. He was honorably discharged from the service in 1957.
French settled in New York and pursued a successful career as an illustrator and artist for Madison Avenue advertising agencies. His work appeared in advertisements for Neiman Marcus and other high-end department stores. He also created designs for textiles for the noted designer, Tamis Keefe.
French also created a number of portrait drawings for use as album art for Columbia Records. Those portraits included Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathis, and Maria Callas.[7]
JIM FRENCH (1932-2017)
John Pruit, Bow and Arrow.
Silver print, the image measuring 368.1x317.5 mm.; 14 1/2x12 1/2 inches, the sheet 508x406.4 mm.; 20x16 inches, with French's signature, title, date, copyright notation, and edition notation 17/25, in pencil, on verso. 1984.
JIM FRENCH (1932-2017)
John Pruitt, Splash.
Silver print, the image measuring 479.4x381 mm; 18 7/8x15 inches, the sheet slightly larger, with French's signature and edition notation 13/25, in pencil, on verso. 1985; printed mid-1990s.
French described his first meeting with Pruitt in 1994: "When John Pruitt was first brought to me he was just finishing a four-year stint in the Marines. . .in his dress whites he was just dazlling. I knew immediately that he was extraordinary and that, given the right circumstances, I could make some wonderful pictures with him." (Mainardi, ed., "Jim French Diaries," p. 232, 264).
At the suggestion of an Army contact who had seen some of his early unpublished homoerotic drawings done under the name Arion, he and French formed a partnership to start a mail order company named "The Lüger Studio." "Kurt Lüger" became the pseudonym for French. The name was chosen for its implied association with the German Luger pistol.[8]
While the Arion drawings had been playful sketches of Fire Island life and similar scenes (influenced by two of his favorite artists, George Petty and Alberto Vargas), the drawings created as "Lüger" featured more hypermasculine subjects: construction men, men in leather, surfers, cowboys, wrestlers, and sailors. The first appearance of a Lüger Studio drawing (two drawings from his "Cowboy" series) was in the May–June 1966 issue of The Young Physique.[9] Photographic copies of the drawing sets were offered for purchase through mail order and were advertised in various magazines available at the time: The Young Physique, Mars, Muscleboy, Sir Gee, Male Classics, and Fizeek Art Quarterly. These copies were offered as thematic sets of either six or eight drawings. Lüger Studios also produced four different photographic sets of various male models.
To avoid legal troubles, Lüger Studio offerings contained minimal frontal nudity but were nonetheless erotic and humorously creative in their suggestiveness. French's artwork was favorably received and was commended for its "unbridled imagination and a fantastic technique."[10]
Eventually French's partner bought out his share of Lüger Studio, freeing French and a new partner, Lou Thomas, to establish another business called Colt Studio (a reference to American west firearm imagery, although the company soon adopted a logo of a stallion.) Having worked for nearly a year to produce the first drawings and photographs to be offered by the new company, Colt was begun in late 1967. Once more the images were offered in sets of prints by mail and the company quickly became successful. But after fifteen years in New York, often traveling to California to take advantage of the weather and abundance of models, French decided to move west.
In 1974 he bought out his partner's share of the business leaving Lou Thomas to start his own company (Target Studio). French made his home in the Hollywood Hills. From the Colt Studio offices in San Fernando Valley, he continued to run the most successful male physique photography company in America, marketing his work to gay men. For thirty-six years, Colt Studio offered the highest quality male erotica commercially available.
During his career, French worked with over 830 models. Among them were Ledermeister, Chris Dickerson, George O’Mara, John Tristram, Alan Albert, Bernie Booth, Dakota, Stoner, Erron, John Pruitt, Gordon Grant, Bruno, Jake Tanner, Jim Morris, Mike Davis, Nick Chase, Mike Betts, Rick Wolfmier, Pat Sutton, Andreas Stock, Danny Collier, Ed Dinakos, Billy Herrington, Franco Corelli, JD Amos, Doug Perry, Tony Romano, Ken Ryker, Tom Chase, Tony Ganz, Steve Kelso, Pete Kuzak, Carl Hardwick, and Wade Neff. French was the first to photograph Drew Okun also providing him with his professional name, “Al Parker.”[11]
In 2003, French sold Colt Studio to former Falcon Studios director John Rutherford and his business partner Tom Settle. The rebranded company, "Colt Studio Group," continues to operate, adding new content, but with digital rights to the drawings, photographs, and films created by French.
In 2013, French relocated to Palm Springs, California. He continued to offer limited edition art prints from his photographic archives as well as original Polaroid photographs taken as studies for his drawings.
French died at home at age 84. He is survived by husband Jeffery Turner.[30]
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