Rare Vintage 7.5x9.5 AL URBAN Male Nude JULES BACON Mr. America 1943 BODYBUILDER

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Rare Vintage 7.5x9.5 AL URBAN Male Nude JULES BACON Mr. America 1943 BODYBUILDER:
$449.99

This sale is for the ORIGINAL, VINTAGE 7.5x9.5-INCH SINGLEWEIGHT BLACK AND WHITE GELATIN SILVER PHOTOGRAPH SHOT AND PRINTED BY LEGENDARY EAST COAST PHYSIQUE PHOTOGRAPHER AL URBAN listed in the item title and shown in my scan. This is a stunning image of popular physique model and competitive bodybuilder JULES BACON in a classic academic pose, similar to the prints by Urban that were widely published in the late 1940s and early 1950s. This particular image has been published numerous times (generally with a painted-on modesty pouch), and it appears in WilliamDoan\'s book on Urban\'s work, which was published as one of the installments ofthe Janssen series, American Photography of the Male Nude 1940-1970.This pose also appears as Pose 33 on Urban\'s Catalog #9, as shown in one of my final scans. The catalog sheet is NOT included as part of this sale, but is shown for reference and authentication. Finally, the scan with the Urban biographical data is from my 2009 book Uncovered: Rare Vintage MaleNudes, which included a chapter of Urban\'s beautiful work.

This is a vintage doubleweight print on fiber photographic paper, and it was printed in the early to mid-1950s, when Urban was aggressively marketing photographs of Bacon. It is in EXCELLENT condition.

AL URBAN was one of the undisputed greats of thegolden age of physique photography, but his life was not an easy one. He beganadvertising his physique photography in 1937 and continued to work -- albeitfrom a variety of locations, including New York, New Jersey, Illinois andCalifornia -- through the 1960s. He was arrested and jailed on severaloccasions, but despite repeated setbacks, he continued to excel as a classicistof form and a technician of great ability in the darkroom. I included awonderful selection of Urban images in my book Uncovered: Rare Vintage MaleNudes (Rizzoli/Universe, 2009). This is a rare print by one of theunderrepresented physique photographers of the past century.JULES BACON was bornin Philadelphia in 1917 and reached the zenith of his fame when he was crowned MR. AMERICA 1943, and hishandsome face and symmetrical physique -- despite his relatively short heightof 5\'7\" -- earned him numerous magazine covers during his years in theIron Game. A sickly child, Bacon was run over by a wagon as a boy, and laterwas shot through the butt and leg by a childhood friend with a .22 caliberrifle. He nearly lost his foot to blood poisoning at an early age, but Baconwas determined to improve his body and began training with weights at age 18.For a number of years worked out at Philadelphia\'s famous Fritsche\'s Gym. Hebegan entering physique and bodybuilding competitions in the late 1930s,placing third in the 1939 York Perfect Man competition; second in the 1941 Mr.America competition; and winning the coveted Mr. America title in 1943. He lastplaced second in the short category pf the 1953 Mr. Universe competition.Although he was photographed numerous times in competitions, he only posed forformal photographs for JACKFRITSCHE, AL URBAN and the legendary LON OF NEW YORK (Lon Hanagan), forwhom he posed on several occasions. Bacon\'s sessions with Lon resulted innumerous magazine covers, including the covers of Strength and Health inSeptember 1943 and March 1944. He worked for many years at the foundry at YorkBarbell Company and wrote regularly for Strength and Health magazine,and he and his wife Romaine for a number of years operated the Jules BaconHealth Studio in York, Pennsylvania (1957-1961). Bacon was the recipient of theAssociation of Oldetime Barbell & Strongmen Vic Boff Highest AchievementAward in 1989 and was inducted into the International Federation ofBodybuilding & Fitness Hall of Fame in 2006. He died on January 13, 2007 atage 89.

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 U.S. buyers seem toappreciate free shipping, and until the U.S. Department of Justice\'s antitrustdivision decides this situation merits their attention, it\'s all I\'m able to doto benefit my buyers and bite the proverbial Hand of the Man. It likely willtake antitrust activity against in another region (the European Union orAustralia, perhaps, where there seems to be a bit greater diligence when itcomes to anticompetitive and/or monopolistic behavior) to get anyone\'sattention here.

REFUND POLICY: Please read my item descriptions carefully, and ask anyquestions you may have before placing your offer. I do not accept returnsor offer refunds on my items. Review my response and offer with confidence.