Non-centrefold Venus of the Month 12: Rhiana Post, August 1976

Another seventies lovely for August in the petite shape of 5'2" Rhiana Post who appeared in Penthouse's August 1976 issue in the US and the September issue, Volume 11 no 6, in the UK.

Her pictorial was shot by Jeff Dunas and is unusual in that it contains, as we shall see, a lot of similar pictures in pairs or threes of certain pose/costume combinations.

For a non-Pet  of the Month pictorial it also contained a lot more pictures than the usual supporting features; with no less than twenty pictures of Miss Post.  Quite a few of these were rather small on the page, however. 

We get three of her in this red top and the bottom (!) one features a, still unusual for the time, faux masturbation shot.  A rear end approach like this was even more unusual at this point.

There are also three of Rhiana in this blue top including this very bold separated labia shot.

It's very difficult to find a Penthouse pictorial from this period without out of focus red flowers in the foreground and Rhiana's is no different.

Rhiana is never fully naked in her pictorial but we get to see enough of her to appreciate her 36-24-36 figure.  Her bust is particularly lovely!

This red top is a one-off; we don't get another of her in this outfit.  Another red flower, though!

Here we have a striking pair of pictures, where, sitting spread-legged on the steps,  Rhiana hikes up her skirt to reveal her pussy.

 

A lovely tactile shot of Rhiana's pliant-looking breasts.

Here she is in another very explicit, for the time, masturbation shot.  The revealingly draped clothing and stockings make her look nicely abandoned.

More peek-a-boo!

The final three pictures are all about her lovely cunt.  Her eight labia-revealing pictures were a record for any Penthouse pictorial to this point.  In fact the August 1976 issue of Penthouse had more blatantly displayed pussy than any other so far, with Pet of the Month Vicki Lynn Johnson, and other model Colleen Carney spreading their legs and showing their bits an unprecedented amount.

Neither of the other girls match the gorgeously hairy and fleshy show by Rhiana, however.

Shortly before her Penthouse pictorial appeared Rhiana had appeared in Club International in the UK in the May 1976 issue under the name of Henri, which, it was explained was short for Henrietta.  In fact Henrietta, not Rhiana, was her real name.

Photographed by Fred Enke it is quite possible, given how long Penthouse sat on pictorials, that these were shot after her Penthouse set.

Henrietta Post was born in the USA in 1953 but at an early age her family moved to Puerto Rico which was where she grew up.  She left the island in the mid-seventies for the mainland.  When she returned with her Penthouse pictorial her boyfriend was so excited by it that they ended up having sex all day, understandably!

It's a very nice pictorial and Henrietta looks very cute in all of her pictures, especially in her red over the knee socks.  We think they're socks anyway.  Thin socks or thick stockings the effect is the same!

She manages to look enticing without overdoing the sultry: her lovely eyes help the cute but naughty feel of the pictures.

Club International hadn't being doing visible labia shots for very long at this point but Henrietta flashes her prominent bits in quite a few of her photos.

It's always nice to see these models smile once in a while and this is a very nice picture!  It's also the only picture we could find of her totally naked.

Henrietta didn't seem to do much modelling after Penthouse; these are the only two pictorials of her we are aware of, sadly, although we did find these black and white shots of her looking really sweet.

Her next appearance would be on the big screen when she got the call up, with around a dozen other Penthouse girls, to fly to Rome to film the notorious extra scenes for Bob Guccione's Caligula (1979).

She took part in the Imperial bordello scene which was shot by Guccione, without the knowledge of the film's director, Tinto Brass, in Dear Studios, Rome in early January 1977.  Henrietta is top left helping out Signe Berger work on an eighteen year old Anglo-Italian extra, who provided most of the stunt cock shots for this scene.

Signe (Pet of the Month for April 1975) is shown in the uncut version of the film fellating the extra (left above) whilst Henrietta (right above) helps out with some hand work.  Two versions of the two girl fellatio scene were shot.  The one which appeared in the final film involved Anneka Di Lorenzo and Valerie Rae Clarke (Pet of the Month for May 1977) but the same scene was also shot with Signe Berger and Henrietta.  Only the beginning of this version is visible in the final uncut film, as seen above.  What was cut and never seen was Henrietta following Anneka's example and having the actor ejaculate into her mouth.  Only a small piece of film, which is visible in the Making of Caligula documentary, shows Henrietta engaged in some oral action with Signe (below).

Henrietta never did any other magazine pictorials or made any more films after Caligula.  Let's hope she had a better life than some of her fellow Caligula Pets.

Venus from the rear: paintings by Steve Hanks

Mysteries suite (1997)

Steve Hanks (b. 1947) is a contemporary American painter specialising in photo-realist watercolours, of which his fine nudes make up a significant part of his output.

Shining in the sun

Although he is perfectly able to render a pretty face (and all of his girls are attractive) in many of his paintings his subjects are turned away from the viewer.  He argues that this means that the viewer of his work is not distracted by the features of the model and so focuses on the beautifully rendered bodies.

Coastline

It brings a mysterious and distant quality to his images and also introduces a sensual feeling of voyeurism into his nudes.

Born in San Diego in 1949 he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in San Francisco and the California College of Arts and Crafts.

Morning bath

Hanks has a wonderful ability to capture the light and reflection on water, so occasionally we find his usually bed dwelling young ladies interacting with this element.  This one, Morning bath, has an almost Alma-Tadema quality about it.

The shower

Much of his interior-set work leans heavily on chiaroscuro, which he uses to great effect to model his sumptuous figures.

Waking up (2005)

His mastery of the watercolour medium has led to many awards and prizes in the US including the National Academy of Western Art Gold Medal

Daylight's comfort (2000)

His originals are starting to fetch good prices.  Daylight's comfort, a smaller (7x13 inches), looser watercolour sold in 2009 for $6,000.

In the light of morning (1996)

In the light of morning demonstrates his more polished photo-realist style.  The fact that this is a watercolour is truly astonishing.

We actually prefer his slightly looser paintings, such as the one above, as perhaps, some of his nudes are just a little too polished.

At the edge of shadow and light

Indeed, at the back of our mind, and it is probably more to do with our outlook than his, some of his nudes are  reminiscent in pose and lighting to those, equally voyeuristic in intent, nudes from Penthouse magazine in the late sixties.  The curvaceous forms of his models (no small busts here) adds to their pin-up quality.  However, he quite often finds his models by approaching them on the streets rather than using professionals.  No doubt it is easier to find young ladies with such splendid proportions in California.

Interior view (1995)

Hanks uses watercolour as a medium because after having used oil paints for fifteen years he developed an allergy to them.  He had to learn how to get the intensity of oil, particularly of skin tone, through layering watercolour; something he has achieved like no other artist we know of.

Seated Model (1990)

You can see the style develop from the more watercolor-like diffuse examples from the late eighties and early nineties to the richer colours of his style in the late nineties and beyond.

This is not to say that we don't like them; we do and would be happy to have one on our wall and not just because Hanks can paint a perfect posterior beautifully.

Contours

In fact, even more impressive, is is ability to model the complex contours of the back and shoulders.  The light on shoulder blades, dimples and, particularly, vertebrae is all perfectly done.

After the shower (1987)

Centered

Perhaps my favourite is this one, Centered, which has the cool palette, timelesssness and lighting of a Dutch seventeenth century interior.  

Comfort in solitude (2000)

Sunshine across the sheets

You can buy prints of Hank's wonderful paintings here.  More of his tremendous watercolours another time.

Steve Hanks