Nudity and Eroticism in Art
The Nude and the Naked Human Figure in Art
á The nude is a Òterm used to describe the depiction of a naked human figure in works of artÓ[i]
á The nude figure can be found throughout the history of art. Some of the earliest nude figures can be found on Greek geometric pottery dating back to the 8th century BCE. During this period the number of images of male nudes greatly exceeded the amount of images of female nudes.
á In Greek art in the middle of the 7th century BCE, the first realistic statues of the male nude appeared known as the Kouros
|
|
Kouros, (Attica?, ca. 600-590 BCE)[ii] |
á In the Classical period Greek sculptors had studied and become masters of human anatomy. The artists of this period began to idealize the human form. The idealization of the human form can be seen in the nude female statue of Aphrodite of Knidos.[iii]
|
Aphrodite of Knidos, c. 360-340 BCE, marble. [iv] |
|
á
In the middle Ages the nude figure takes on a
much different meaning than it previously had in art. The nude figure was an image that was rarely used by artists
of this period. When a nude figure
or figures were present in art, they were usually used as representatives of
sin.
á
The nude figure returns to art as a popular
subject in the Renaissance period.
The nude figure however is used by artists in Renaissance Italy much
differently than by the Renaissance artists of Northern Europe.[v]
|
David, Donatello c.
1430 Bronze,
height: 185 cm Museo
Nazionale del Bargello, Florence |
|
|
|
|
The Ghent Altarpiece: Adam
and Eve, Jan
van Eyck 1425-29 Oil
on wood, 213,3 x 32,3 cm (with the top grisaille) Cathedral
of St Bavo, Ghent |
á
The Baroque period presents nudity in a much more
sensual way. The nudes appear to
be much more naturalistic, these artists were looking back to antiquity and the
idea of perfecting the human body.
Atlante,
Annibale Carracci -Sanguine MusŽe
du Louvre, Paris |
|
á
In the 19th and 20th century the
classical depiction of the nude was challenged by artists working in the modern
period (1800 to present).
|
|
Les Demoiselles dÕ Avignon, Pablo Picasso 1907 Giraudon, Paris |
á
Sigmund FreudÕs psychoanalytical discoveries in the 20th
century had a major effect on art and how nudity in art was interpreted.[vi]
Eroticism, Sex and
Pornography in Art
á
Erotic art can be defined as, Òart with a sexual
content, and especially to art that celebrates human sexuality.Ó The imagery can be Òeither explicitly
or implicitly sexual.Ó[vii]
á
Pornography as defined by Merriam-WebsterÕs Collegiate
Dictionary, means: 1. the depiction of erotic behavior (as in
pictures or writing) intended to cause sexual excitement . 2. material
(as books or a photograph) that depicts erotic behavior and is intended to
cause sexual excitement. 3. the depiction of acts in a
sensational manner so as to arouse a quick intense emotional reaction <the pornography of violence>.
á
In the Paleolithic period c. 30,000 and 10, 000 BCE the earliest erotic
images can be found. An example of
this early erotic artwork is the Venus of Willendorf, found in Austia.
á
From
the Neolithic period (c. 9000-7000 BCE) a number of erotic images have been
discovered. These images and small
sculptures are primarily related to fertility and the fertility cults.
á
From the 1st century BCE, the wall
paintings at Pompeii contain numerous images of erotic art.[viii]
|
|
Brothel Painting, 1st century, Wall painting, Pompeii |
á
In Classical Greek and Roman art erotic images
were frequently used, many of which portrayed love stories of their gods.
á
In the Renaissance period a majority of the art
produced was of religious subject matter.
The artists in this period however did use erotic tones in the religious
stories of both the Old and New Testament.
.
St. Mary Magdalen,
Titian, c.1530-1535.
Oil
on wood. Palazzo Pitti, Galleria Palatina, Florence, Italy. |
á
á
á
|
|
Judith
and Holofernes, Andrea
Mantegna 1495 Egg-tempera
on wood National
Gallery of Art, Washington |
á
|
á
Renaissance
artists also created erotic art, by using characters from Greek mythology as
subjects in their works.[ix] The painting La Primavera by Sandro Botticelli (1477-78 Panel, 315 x 205 cm Galleria degli Uffizi,
Florence) shown below is an excellent example of an erotic mythological
subject.
|
|
|
á
The subject of the erotic continued to flourish in art throughout
the 16th to 18th century. The subject matter for which erotic tones were used
for stayed fairly consistent during this long period.
á
In the 18th century the French Court encouraged artists
to create works dealing with love and sexual pleasures. Some of the French artists stayed with
the traditional portrayal of eroticism through mythological and religious
subject matter. Other artists
created a new way to portray eroticism through art by using aspects of French
court life or the implication of love making as their subject matter.
|
|
Resting
Girl, Francois
Boucher 1752 Oil
on canvas, 59 x 73 cm Alte
Pinakothek, Munich |
á
In the 19th century artists took the subject of the
erotic further, by depicting prostitutes, brothels, and lesbians in their artwork. Images of this type were considered
highly inappropriate and were rejected by the Salons.[x]
|
The Tub,Edgar Degas c.
1885-86 |
|
|
|
|
* In
the painting above The Tub, Degas has chosen to use an unusually close viewpoint, Òallowing
the womanÕs body to dominate the composition and even project beyond the
picture rectangleÓ.[xi]
Below: Interior the Rape, Degas, 1868-1869, oil on
canvas, 81x 116cm, Museum of Art, Philadelphia,
|
|
á
In the 20th century the Surrealist group was greatly
Òinspired by FreudÕs argument that sexuality lay at the root of all
creativity.Ó The Surrealists
created erotic art that Òhas a ompulsive intensity that can have a deep effect
on the viewer, communicating often on a direct subconscious level.Ó[xii] An example of a form of eroticism used
by a Surrealist artist can be seen below in the painting Young Virgin
Autosodomized by her own Chastity, by Salvador Dali (1934).
|
|
á
In the 20th century to present the 21st
century a photographer from Virginia named Sally Mann has been dealing with the
controversies surrounding the subject matter of many of her photographs. The pictures Mann has taken of her
children growing up capturing their innocence, have been claimed to be too
sexual, pornographic, and erotic.[xiii] Images below by Sally Mann[xiv]
|
|
Candy cigaretteÉ, Sally Mann, 1989, Photograph |
|
Bath, Sally Mann, Photograph |
|
|
|
Virginia, Emmet and Jessie, Sally Mann, Photograph |
|
Nightblooming cereus, Sally Mann, 1989, Photograph |
|
Article 1: Richard Leppert,
ÒThe Male Nude: Identity and Denial,Ó
Critical Perspectives on Art History. By John C. McEnroe and Deborah F. Pokinski. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2002.
*Below: Michelangelo, David, 1501-1504. Marble, height 434 cm, Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence
|
|
|
|
|
|
Article 2: Lynda Nead, ÒThe
Female Nude: Pornography, Art and Sexuality,Ó Critical Perspectives on Art
History. By John C. McEnroe
and Deborah F. Pokinski. New
Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2002.
|
|
Shepherd and Nymph, Titian, c.1570. Oil on canvas. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria. |
