Jim French American 1932-2017
Hog Chopper, Hollywood, 1968

£3,500

Silver print (printed 1994)
Signed and titled (verso), numbered 8/25
27cm × 30cm (image size), (53cm × 42.5cm framed)

Jim French was an American photographer, illustrator, and publisher whose work defined post-war gay male visual culture.Under the pseudonym Rip Colt, he co-founded Colt Studio in late 1967, transforming male physique photography into a major commercial and artistic enterprise. Over nearly four decades, Colt became the premier producer of gay erotica in the United States, publishing fine art books, magazines, slide sets, 8mm films, and iconic annual calendars.

French's signature style emphasized muscle-bound bodies, statuesque posing, dramatic lighting, and classical composition. His 1969 illustration Longhorns – Dance—depicting two cowboys naked from the waist down—was repurposed in 1975 by Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood into an iconic T-shirt for their London shop Sex, worn famously by members of the Sex Pistols.

French sold Colt Studio in 2003 while retaining the archival rights to his original artwork.In his later years, he gained formal recognition from the mainstream fine-art world, with exhibitions at galleries including ClampArt in New York and institutional inclusion in retrospectives on queer art history.He died at his home in Palm Springs, California, at age 84.