John Coutts: the Leonardo Da Vinci of fetish art
John Coutts, also known by the subtle moniker of John Willie, was an artist, photographer, and publisher of the infamous 1950s fetish magazine Bizarre. Even before becoming a forefather of fetish, his personal life seemed to reflect his attitude to social norms, having been forced to resign from the Royal Scots after marrying without the permission of his commanding officer.
He then moved to Australia in 1926 and found work as a photographer in Sydney, marrying one of his subjects, model Holly Faram. When friends visited their apartment, they were met with a large black and white photo of Holly tied naked to a tree. The images that later appeared in Bizarre made that one look tame.
Published under the John Willie name, the magazine was sold mail order to private customers, who would send in their own letters and photographs, which explored bondage, sadomasochism, body modifications, and amputee fetishism. Bizarre often featured his wife alongside his hand-drawn illustrations, and it was those drawings that led ardent erotica fans to dub him the “Leonardo Da Vinci of fetish”.
Just as Da Vinci used mathematical principles of linear perspective, Coutts’ subjects were always anatomically correct, like hyper-sexualised croquis sketches. Even the amputees that filled its pages were curvy and overtly glamorous. Borrowing from cartoons, his techniques differed depending on the morality of his subjects. Heroines, like his most famous character, Sweet Gwendoline, were drawn with soft blending and a light touch. His villains were presented far rougher, with frenzied crosshatched shading.
A raven-haired dominatrix known as U69 also frequented the pages of Bizarre. The majority of the “plot” would result in Gwendoline being restrained in ropes. While undercut by an element of slapstick humour, Bizarre was distinctly sexual. Rope patterns extenuated the already exaggerated form of the pin-ups Coutts drew, which recalled the silhouette of Bettie Page – whom Coutts was often mentioned in the same breath as, following the ’70s resurgence of fetish art.
Strangely, it was an increased accessibility to sexual imagery that was Bizarre’s demise. As societal attitudes to sex became more relaxed, so did the obscenity laws that made publishing the magazine a challenge. It should’ve marked the start of a new era for the magazine and all its collaborators, but the golden age of fetish was crushed by its own cultural acceptance. No longer a haven for the taboo, its popularity dwindled, and Bizarre folded in 1959, with the publication’s archives destroyed.
The social change of the ’60s brought a new kind of sexuality to the forefront, bringing Playboy to newsstands across the country. Coutts once said: “There is a partner to suit everyone somewhere, but the search will be difficult until we can discuss our likes and dislikes, openly, in good taste, without threat from our own brand of standardized Police State.” The new wave of provocative centrefolds almost achieved what Bizarre could not, and his work is now celebrated in, but relegated to, the depths of niche fetish circles.
