The reason that I offered that background concerning those three events is because it helps me to explain what this photograph of Yul Brynner was doing socially, culturally, and politically when George Platt Lynes created it. By looking at the individual lives of Lynes and Brynner in these events, it is easy to see how these two men could have become connected, especially during this time of the Silent Sexual Revolution. When this photograph was taken, it was between shows in Brynner’s career and before he got married for the first time. This set of images taken by Lynes would have played a role in the development of Brynner as a sexual icon, as it was before he was fully viewed as one already. Additionally, during this time of sexual revolution and changing ideas, it would not be too much of a stretch to infer that there may have been some form of sexual connection between Brynner (who was often thought to be bisexual) and Lynes (who was known for his casual sexual encounters outside of his relationship with Wheeler and Westcott at the time). However, it would have most likely had to have been kept a secret still as the general public still viewed being gay negatively, and this would have had the potential to affect Brynner’s up and coming career.

Works Cited

Bates College. “George Platt Lynes Biography.” Museum of Art, 18 May 2023, www.bates.edu/museum/exhibitions/george-platt-lynes-biography/. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Biography.com Editors. "Yul Brynner Biography". A&E; Television Networks, 2 Dec. 2021, https://www.biography.com/actors/yul-brynner. Accessed 1 Apr 2024.

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Yul Brynner". Encyclopedia Britannica, 19 Feb. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Yul-Brynner. Accessed 18 March 2024.

Brown, Elspeth H. "A Not-So-Simple Love Story." Literary Review of Canada, June 2019, https://reviewcanada.ca/magazine/2019/06/a-not-so-simple-love-story/. Accessed 1 Apr. 2024.

Glaser, Gabrielle. “The Sexual Double Standards That Led to the Baby Boom—and “Girls in Trouble.”” Literary Hub, 27 Jan. 2021, lithub.com/the-sexual-double-standards-that-led-to-the-baby-boom-and-girls-in-trouble/. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Martin, Bryan. “Paul Cadmus and the Censorship of Queer Art”. The Met, 25 June 2021, https://www.metmuseum.org/perspectives/articles/2021/6/paul-cadmus-the-fleets-in. Accessed 1 Apr. 2024.

Platt Lynes, George. Second image of Group of 3 Photographs of Yul Brynner. 1942. https://www.artnet.com/artists/george-platt-lynes/group-of-3-photographs.... Accessed Feb 18, 2022.

Yale University. “Lynes, George Platt, 1907-1955 | Archives at Yale.” Archives at Yale, archives.yale.edu/agents/people/57076. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.