{{Short description|American artist Steve Masters (1925–1964)}} {{Distinguish|text=the pseudonymous Canadian sex columnist}} {{Infobox person | name = Steve Masters | image = Mike Miksche.jpg | other_names = Mike Miksche, Steve Masters, Scott Masters | birth_name = David Leo Miksche | birth_date = {{Birth date text|1925}} | death_date = {{Death date and age|1964|1925}} | death_place = New York City | known_for = Erotic illustration }} '''Mike Miksche''' (1925–1964), widely known by his pen name '''Steve Masters''', was an American artist active in the mid-twentieth century, known for his erotic illustrations.<ref name="nytimes">{{Cite news |last=Lybarger |first=Jeremy |date=2022-03-01 |title=How to Buy a Masterpiece on a Budget |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/01/magazine/online-auction-art.html |access-date=2024-07-27 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name="swanngalleries">{{Cite web |title=Steve Masters (aka Mike Miksche 1925 1964) |url=https://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/Lots/auction-lot/STEVE-MASTERS-(aka-MIKE-MIKSCHE-1925-1964)-Now-Hear-This--Ro?saleno=2578&lotNo=57&refNo=785303 |access-date=2024-07-27 |website=Swann Galleries}}</ref>
== Biography == Born as "David Leo Miksche," Miksche was raised in Oregon but later relocated to New York City.<ref>{{Cite web |title=David Leo Miksche |url=https://www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/person/david-leo-miksche |access-date=2024-07-27 |website=American Air Museum}}</ref><ref name="google">{{Cite book |last=Spring |first=Justin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cl9kgQmqj54C&q=Steve+Masters+mike+miksche |title=Secret Historian: The Life and Times of Samuel Steward, Professor, Tattoo Artist, and Sexual Renegade |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |year=2011 |isbn=9780374533021}}</ref> He was of Czech ancestry and, having grown to a height of six foot three, became known for his formidable appearance.<ref name="google"/>
Miksche enlisted in the United States Air Force, where he served as a flight captain.<ref name="nytimes"/> After completing his service, he became a fashion illustrator.<ref name="swanngalleries"/> In his professional life, Miksche drew advertising and commercial artwork for companies such as ''Sports Illustrated''.<ref name="depaul">{{Cite news |date=April 2017 |title=Student Perspective: Noah Barth, class of 2017 |url=https://las.depaul.edu/academics/american-studies/about/Documents/AMS%20Newsletter%20April,%202017.pdf |access-date=2024-07-27 |work=DePaul American Studies (AMS) Newsletter |publisher=DePaul University |pages=4–5}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Stories In Progress - Mike Miksche |url=https://jenjacksonquintano.com/in-progress |access-date=2024-07-27 |website=Jen Jackson Quintano |language=en-US}}</ref> He also modeled for Marlboro's "Marlboro Man" ad campaign.<ref name=":0" />
In the 1950s and 1960s, Miksche created erotic art under the pen name Steve Masters (and reportedly Scott Masters as well).<ref name="nytimes"/><ref name="google"/> Miksche chose his pen name in part for its initials, SM, which were a coded indication of his sexual interest in sadomasochism (otherwise known as S&M).<ref name="google"/> He depicted S&M in much of his art.<ref name="nytimes"/><ref name="swanngalleries"/> His physique drawings and male nude drawings were featured in major gay publications such as ''Physique Pictorial'' and BIG Magazine.<ref name="depaul"/>
Miksche's friend Glenway Wescott described him as "a giant Paul Bunyan type, very strong, with a magnificent physique [and a] tyrannous, psychological sadism... He wanted to dominate everybody... was a terrific performer... [and] a showoff."<ref name="google"/>
Miksche met Alfred Kinsey in New York and guided him through the city's BDSM scene.<ref name="google2">{{Cite book |last=Stein |first=Stephen K |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VnwSEAAAQBAJ&dq=Steve+Masters+mike+miksche&pg=PT32 |title=Sadomasochism and the BDSM Community in the United States: Kinky People Unite |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9780367476809 |publication-date=2021-02-23}}</ref> Kinsey introduced Miksche to Samuel Steward, and the three agreed to allow Kinsey to film Miksche and Steward engage in S&M sex acts for his eponymous institute.<ref name="nytimes"/><ref name="google"/><ref name="google2"/> Miksche and Steward's encounter was the first same-sex film shot by the Kinsey Institute.<ref name="google"/>
Miksche was prone to violence; on at least one occasion, he broke a lover's ribs.<ref name="google"/> According to Wescott, many in the S&M community feared Miksche.<ref name="google"/> Kinsey came to regard Miksche dangerous and unstable.<ref name="google"/>
Miksche died in 1964 after a long battle with depression.<ref name="swanngalleries"/><ref name="depaul"/> The cause of death is disputed.<ref name="google"/><ref name="depaul"/> Miksche is reported to have committed suicide by jumping into the Hudson River.<ref name="google"/> However, according to Wescott, Miksche was rescued from the river and died of a drug overdose on a rooftop.<ref name="google"/> Whether this drug overdose was intentional or not is also disputed.<ref name="depaul"/>
Following Miksche's death, much of his art was destroyed by his ex-wife.<ref name="depaul"/> The Kinsey Institute and the Leather Archives & Museum hold most of Miksche's surviving art.<ref name="swanngalleries"/><ref name="leatherarchives">{{Cite web |title=Steve Masters Collection |url=https://leatherarchives.org/ca/index.php/Detail/collections/276 |access-date=2024-07-27 |website=Leather Archives & Museum |series=PERS-0041}}</ref>
== Cultural impact & legacy == ''The Art of Steve Masters,'' a collection of Miksche's work, was published in octavo format circa 1970.<ref name="swanngalleries"/> In 1972, Greenleaf Editions featured Miksche in ''A Historic Collection of Gay Art,'' which was republished in 2006 by Arsenal Pulp Press as ''Gay Art: A Historic Collection.''<ref>{{Cite book |title=Gay art : a historic collection |url=https://collections.arquives.ca/link/catalogue7638 |access-date=2024-07-27 |website=The ArQuives |series=Accession Number 2008-0672012-018|isbn=978-1-55152-205-0 |last1=Falkon |first1=Felix Lance |date=2006 }}</ref> In 1986, his art was featured in ''Naked Eyes,'' an artist showcase organized by Olaf Odegaard that highlighted gay men's visual art for the International Gay and Lesbian Archives.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Finding Aid to the International Gay and Lesbian Archives Records, 1958-2002 Coll2012-002 |url=https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8jm2816/entire_text/ |access-date=2024-10-28 |website=Online Archives of California |series=Coll2012-002, Subseries 6.2}}</ref>
The Kinsey Institute and the Leather Archives & Museum hold most of Miksche's surviving art.<ref name="swanngalleries" /><ref name="leatherarchives" />
Jen Jackson Quintano, Miksche's great-niece, wrote of him:<ref name=":0" /><blockquote>He felt everything intensely, whether it be love or pain, curiosity or revulsion. And that made his life all the more remarkable. He felt his wounds acutely, and yet he did not sink into collapse; instead, he rose from it, time after time, open to beauty and cruelty in equal measure.</blockquote>A Canadian sex columnist named James uses Mike Miksche as his pen name.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Miksche |first=Mike |date=2017-03-15 |title=Why it may be time for me to kill Mike Miksche (Part 1) |url=https://xtramagazine.com/love-sex/why-it-may-be-time-for-me-to-kill-mike-miksche-part-1-73188 |access-date=2024-07-27 |website=Xtra Magazine |language=en-CA}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Johnson |first=William |date=2015-09-29 |title=The Banal and the Profane: Mike Miksche |url=https://lambdaliterary.org/2015/09/the-banal-and-the-profane-mike-miksche/ |access-date=2024-07-27 |website=Lambda Literary |language=en}}</ref>
== See also ==
* [https://jenjacksonquintano.com/miksche Mike Miksche photo gallery by Jen Jackson Quintano]
== References == <references /> {{Portal bar|LGBTQ|Human sexuality|Erotica and pornography|Biography}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miksche, Mike}} Category:Gay male erotica artists Category:American gay artists Category:Pseudonymous illustrators Category:Fetish artists Category:1964 deaths Category:American erotic artists Category:20th-century American LGBTQ people Category:1925 births Category:American LGBTQ artists Category:Gay military personnel Category:American LGBTQ military personnel Category:LGBTQ people from Texas Category:Czech-American culture Category:United States Air Force non-commissioned officers