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Sexuality in art history
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Kenneth Clark said “No nude, however abstract, should fail to arouse the spectator in some vestige of erotic feeling.” I don’t believe this is true for today’s art and especially not of Tim Parker’s nude paintings. Clark differenciated the naked and the nude as voluntary vs. involuntary. To him being naked was to be deprived of clothes which would cause a feeling of embarassent to the model. To be nude the womans body would have to been re-formed into an idealized verson of herself. Clark’s ideas were often drivin by attraction, he claimed that correcct proportions, and manipulated bodies in artwork were mainly for the appeal of men. The women included in Parker’s work are primariliy slim so some viewers may argue that when discussing Kenneth Clark’s idea’s that he would consider Parker’s paintings nude’s, or idealized versions of the women he used as models.
Interpreting nakedness between nude in these paintings may be hard for John Berger to decide without knowing previous knowledge of the models used or people Parker intended to depict. To Berger nakedness means to be oneself, a viewer could argue that in the second painting the woman is showing her true self in her state of peace and her expression. Though others may argue that Berger
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These works may be labeled objectifying also because a male painter painted them. Today, these works could be seen as empowering to women. The first painting gives off an emotional ride of one duplicated woman or two women. The second painting shows an emotional journey of prayer and relaxation of a woman sitting in the lotus position. The third painting could represent a strong and empowered women respecting herself and her body. Times have changed and so have views of women in society which have influenced a change in how people view nude women in
Alice Neel's most talked about painting, a Self-Portrait of herself, shocked the world when she painted herself in the nude at the age of 80-years-old. Neel, a 20th Century American Portrait Artist, painted models for over 50 years before turning the attention to herself (Tamara Garb). Neel wasn't a pinup girl and had depicted herself as the complete opposite (Jeremy Lewison). Unlike Neel, women avoided self-portraits of themselves, and nude self-portraits barely made it to canvas (Tamara Garb). Because of these reasons alone, Neel's Self-Portrait attracted scrutiny (Jeremy Lewison). Though Neel declared the painting to be frightful and indecent (Ibid), it still directed its focus on femininity, and the challenges women had to endure in our
Though the start of artistic expression cannot be pinpointed to a specific date, the growth of art and its complexity cannot be denied. Two complex pieces of art which will be compared and contrasted within this essay are Mary Cassatt’s Portrait of the Artist and Frida Kahlo’s Self Portrait with Monkey. Though Cassatt belonged the Impressionist movement (Streissguth 48) and Kahlo who was labeled as a member of the Surrealist movement, which she later denied (Stremmel, Kerstin, & Grosenick 1940), both paintings have an equal number of similarities as contrasting elements.
“fluidity of identity,” as Robertson and McDaniel (2009, p.84) call it, stands out as the image’s foremost interest, particularly insofar as a close observation of the subject does not dispel doubt that he is a she, or she a he—nor how those terms have come to be defined. The formal choices responsible for creating that ambiguity are, first, the subject’s pose, which is historically associated with “Western male artists’ conventions of depicting the female” (Robertson & McDaniel 2009, p.84). Second, and intensely,
The gestural and heavy working of the paint and the contrasting colors make the painting appear active yet are arduous to follow. The defining element of Woman and Bicycle is the presence of the black lines that do most of the work in terms of identifying the figure. Through the wild nature of the brushwork, color, and composition of the painting, it can be implied that the artist is making an implication towards the wild nature of even the most proper of women.
The figure on the left side of the painting and the figure in the white panel face away from the viewer, do not allow the viewer to see her female anatomy. The figure placed between the sharp blades of grass and the black panel is sitting down with her hand on her knee, a pose that suggests agency. The figure on the right side of the painting is the only figure that faces the viewer. The placement of each figure allows each of them to demand their own attention. The placement of the figures and the positions they are in are reminiscent of Picasso’s Demoiselles d’Avignon. Because the figures are unidentifiable and presented with indistinguishable features, and no faces, there is no commentary on class, race, religion, or sexuality using the female nude.
As the art world moved away from Renaissance ideals, the way women were shown in the art world began to shift. In 1863, the french painter Edouard Manet used Venus of Urbino as inspiration for his radical painting Olympia, in which he challenged the limited way women were depicted in art. For one thing, he paints a prostitute, rather than an aristocrat. He paints a prostitute who is unashamed of her work, and unwilling to conform to classically idealized form. Even more radical however, is the way he painted her. Olympia meets the viewer’s gaze head on, and stares almost defiantely. She is positioned slightly above the viewer, and gazes down powerfully. She is wearing just enough to not be considered a nude figure. Instead she is a naked one,
In many works of art throughout history, female breasts have been featured prominently and in the nude. The symbolic meaning credited to the breast was usually associated with fertility and nourishment, both spiritual and physical, and in the wider sense, with life. Eroticism, nourishment, abundance, expression, feminine power, as well as feminine subservience, are different contradicting themes of the breast played out in time.
Since time immemorial, human form has been a significant subject in art. The History of Western art is filled with the nude paintings. Nudes were tended to idealize and philosophize human existence since the Ancient Greeks, but in German Expressionism, the nudes are rather more complex. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, the Expressionist who drew nude as his subject matter is different from the idealistic nudes we have seen in Impressionism. This essay attempts to examine the use of nakedness of the body in German Expressionism through Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s significance work and evaluate the influencing factors linking to nudes and his emotional.
People use art to display the beauty found in the world and, because of this, women have been subject to objection through paintings and photography all throughout history. Whether it is a commissioned oil painting from the 17th century or an advertisement from the 20th century, there will always be some type of image that objectifies women. In the book Ways of Seeing John Berger states that a woman “comes to consider the surveyor and surveyed within her as the two constituent yet always distinct elements of her identity as a woman,” (Ways of Seeing 46). Berger is saying that women know they are seen as an object purely because they are women. Women in paintings and photography are objectified for the pleasure of the viewer, they are illustrated for the surveyor’s specifications, so in essence the picture is a better representation of the owner than the subject.
Another work that shows a sensual and new nude representation is Early morning (Plate 10). This painting was exhibited in 1922, so it can’t be included in the Victorian’s painting but it is, in my opinion, very important to see the progress the society has made in acceptance of the nude. The way he depict this young woman is, for me, brilliant. She is naked but, in my opinion, her expression shows that she’s very comfortable. She is, in fact, sitting with her legs crossed on a bed, drinking tea and reading letters. She is looking far away from the viewer and she seems absorbed in her thoughts
Through time due to advancements in material and painting techniques combined with the ever-increasing talent of the artists, paintings representing people have become very lifelike and are extremely realistic. Some painted portraits have as much detail as modern photographs. However, there are also paintings of people that are representational in which the artist is trying to convey a message. This paper discusses the two types through the comparison of two paintings, Abaporu and Portrait of a Lady.
The painting I chose was done by the Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi, entitled “Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting” and also called “Autoritratto in veste di Pittura” in Italian. Artemisia Gentileschi is boldly stating that she is the emblem of art, especially during a time when men dominated the world of art and women weren’t respected as artists or as functioning people in general. To me, this painting captures her looking beyond the struggles that female artists faced, and creating a new future of women composing art that surpasses them only being nude in paintings. Her facial expression is determined and focused, but also insightful and hopeful. Rather than painting herself in a way that accentuates her body in a desirable way,
...cers. However, the women are not reflected in a positive light. Contrary to their lavish outfits and sensual makeup , the women do not look confident. Based off of their attire, they should feel as beautiful as they look. Unfortunately, they look quite frail and insecure. Whether they actually feel that way is undetermined, but it is clear that Bendiksen used their frail appearance to make his point. Through this photograph, he categorizes women as unhappy people who work under scandalous conditions to make a living. He wants people to look at this photo, wonder what lead them to this point in their lives, and further investigate. This photo is intended to make people think. By taking an idea that can be found all around the world, women’s sexuality, and applying it to one central situation, the reader is immediately drawn in.
The images that Vladimir Nabokov creates the sense that the characters, along with the reader, are stuck in a painting themselves. “Her nudity was as natural as though she had long been wont to run along the shore of his dreams (84).” Often in painting, the naturality of the nude body was portrayed to be the most beautiful of art forms. Here, Nabokov talks about the naturalness of Margot’s nude body, and explains that it is the image of perfection that runs through Albert’s mind. He creates the image of a naked young woman and, supported by his use of characterization in regards to Margot, a beautifully painted picture. By allowing Albert to think like this, Nabokov feeds the idea that Albert cannot be satisfied by reality. His life must be artistic, therefore so must his lover. “It really was blue: purple-blue in the distance peacock-blue coming nearer, diamond-blue where the wave caught the light. The foam toppled over, ran slowed down, then receded, leaving a smooth mirror on the wet sand, which the next wave flooded again. A hairy man in orange-red pants stood at the edge of the water wiping his glasses. A small boy shrieked with g lee as the foam gushed into the walled city he had built. Gay parasols and striped tents seemed to repeat in terms of color what the shouts of the bathers were to the ear. A large bright ball was flung from somewhere and bounced on the sand with a
The theory of feminist is formed greatly from the difference of gender. Gender refers to the social roles in everyday life. Gender affects greatly to the way we interpret art. Art and experience cannot be approached netrually (nguon) Feminists believe that art and politics should not exist seperately. Feminist art critiques broaden our knowledge about viewers' response to images, especially with the identification of male gaze in art. Male gaze can be thought of the reflection of women in visual representation dependent on the viewpoint of the men. The reflection of women in paintings or advertisements is just for males pleasure. It was reported that 85% of nude paintings are female (nguon: buc tranh trong lecture)Females is passively observed for the enjoyment of male. The interpretation of female images in art shapes our view on women. What we call ideology or prejudice of woman in art is just the matter of the men's eyes. Men look at women and women are aware that they are being watched through the eyes of men. In the Aussie Bodies Advertising 2013, what draws our attention is not the product but the slim female body in a swimsuit on the beach with a shining