These "Friends" aspired to a new sort of aesthetic based on sexual and physical beauty.
Their favorite entertainment was attending a masquerade party, where they would dress up in antique or oriental costumes designed by Konstantin Somov. Thus, "Druzia Gafiza" became a kind of love laboratory, where its' members (both straight and gay, and including polyamorous people), dressed up in costumes and read erotic poems. It was an intimate, artistic circle of poets, artists, and philosophers who were looking for the perfect formula for true love. In order to recognize each other in public, gay men would often wear either a red hanky in the top pocket of their jacket or a red tie.īut what about the Russian artists and intelligentsia? The well-known Russian poet and philosopher, Vyacheslav Ivanov founded a narrow circle of "Druzia Gafiza" ("Hafez's friends", after the Persian poet Hafez). Source: Gay men would often meet in parks, confectionaries, restaurants, and regularly in public saunas, which were said to be male only brothels. Contrarily, there wasn't a specific term for men who sell their "love"? For instance, the word "tyotka" meant a rich man who buys a young boys' love, similar to "sugar daddy" nowadays. Moreover, the law did not recognise lesbians at all! Nonetheless, Russian society was generally tolerant of gay people, so they were seldomly punished. From 1866 serious punishments were introduced for being homosexual: confiscation of property, expulsion from occupations, and exile to Siberia. It wasn't until the 18th century, that tsar Peter the Great abolished homosexual affairs in the army and navy. Surprisingly, the Russian government didn't begin its fight against homosexuality until much later than many other European countries. These whimsical scenes are a far cry from his later works with its focus on male nudes! But let us guide you through his captivating and intriguing queer world! Homosexuals in the Russian Empire A frequent inspiration for Somov's artworks were the characters, Marquise and Harlequin depicted with painted doll faces, and often shown kissing in the park. Konstantin Somov (1869-1939) was a Russian painter, co-founder of the artistic movement Mir Iskusstva and well known for his watercolors associated with the 18th-century style.