Ever since ancient times, humanity has created pieces of art that involve the sexuality of both men and women. The interest of sexuality in art started from the cave paintings of the first Homo sapiens in Europe 40,000 years ago, which illustrated the unique sexual desires at the time, and has evolved to modern day art, which shows a deeper meaning behind sexuality. It is very intriguing how sexual interest and discussion in art has evolved over time.
Upon first examination of early sexual art, people might misunderstand depictions of nudity, homosexuality, or sexual violence in art, thinking that artists were stranger or cruel back then. In reality, artists created their pieces of art in according to what was socially accepted at the time, what style was favored, and what the minds of the viewers they felt like needed at the time. My goal is to walk people through the reasons why certain styles of sexual art existed at certain periods of time and how they evolved from sheer sexual imagery to deep topics of discussion.
For the pieces of arts in my exhibit, each one of them has a central theme that relates to sexuality in art. In the earliest piece, “Abduction of the Sabine Woman” created by Nicholas Poussin in 1594, it shows several young women being kidnapped, and since this was created during the time of the Renaissance, naked flesh in art was becoming more appreciated. Thus making the painting very effective at the time as it shows acts of violence on women as their clothing is stretched apart, exposing their flesh.
Even though this piece was made as early as the 16th century, the opinions on sexuality in art had shifted several times before they could get to this point to appreciate naked flesh. Starting with Greek art, dep...
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...the human body in the Renaissance. Followed by finding deep meaning behind these depictions in Baroque art, into seeking the playfulness and acceptance of sexual enjoyment in Rococo, and resulting in modern day art, which utilizes all of these past styles to both show the pros and cons of sexuality, enlighten others to sexual acceptance, and to simply please the viewer.
This massive shift between sheer sexual imagery in everyday life to sexual meaning in art is what people need to understand as it shows how much humanity can evolve in viewing a universal topic such as sexuality. It is not a matter of the level of sex and violence in a work of art, it is how each piece shows what humanity had or needed in terms of sexuality at the time. With time, sexuality in art will continue to evolve as long as humanity has the desires of sexuality, acceptance, and enlightenment.
In the Florence and the early renaissance, we have the greatest master of art like Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli and others. In this period of time the painters almost never show their emotions or feelings, they were more focused on indulging the churches and the wealthy people. In The renaissance period the art provides the work of art with ideal, intangible qualities, giving it a beauty and significance greater and more permanent than that actually found in the modern art. Florence and the early renaissance, the art become very valued where every artist was trying to create art forms consistent with the appearance of the beauty or elegance in a natural perspective. However, Renaissance art seems to focus more on the human as an individual, while Wayne White art takes a broader picture with no humans whatsoever; Wayne, modern three dimensional arts often utilizes a style of painting more abstract than Renaissance art. At this point in the semester these two aspects of abstract painting and the early renaissance artwork have significant roles in the paintings. Wayne White brings unrealistic concepts that provoke a new theme of art, but nevertheless the artistic creations of the piece of art during early renaissance still represent the highest of attainment in the history of
Male artists were the only people who were producing art at that time, with women being their preferred subject matter. Because of this, it was easy to identify that the portrayal of women in these works was actually how men perceived women to be in reality. The art produced reflects the dominant patriarchal values formed in Europe in this era. The binary opposition evident in the artwork was a reflection of the male
The use of erotica can be seen very clearly in the "Song of Solomon". First of all, one must keep in mind that it comes from the bible so one will not here vulgar things or even words that you know are directly talking about sex. However, if you read closely, you can here the implicit remarks that these young lovers seems to be making, not only about each others body, but also about what each would like to do with the other.
Prior to the 20th century, female artists were the minority members of the art world (Montfort). They lacked formal training and therefore were not taken seriously. If they did paint, it was generally assumed they had a relative who was a relatively well known male painter. Women usually worked with still lifes and miniatures which were the “lowest” in the hierarchy of genres, bible scenes, history, and mythological paintings being at the top (Montfort). To be able to paint the more respected genres, one had to have experience studying anatomy and drawing the male nude, both activities considered t...
Sexuality has often been confused with pornography. It has been trivialised as something that is a denigration and denial of true feeling by sensationalising genuine expressivism.
Slade, Joseph W. Pornography and Sexual Representation: A Reference Guide. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2001. Print.
Things that are out of the control of men is viewed as a threat to mankind (Berkowitz, 2012). Most people know that babies come from women, however, according to Berkowitz, people living in biblical times did not know why. This lack of knowledge is how female sexuality turned into something that many people repressed. Babies come from women, that much is clear, but menstrual cycles, female orgasms and sexual desires could not be understood by people in the way that male sexuality was understood. Men have many sexual desires and needs, and when they become aroused, they get erections, when men orgasm, they ejaculate. These clear indicators regarding male sexuality allowed people living in BCE to grasp onto what male sexuality is, however, there was a gap in knowledge about female sexuality. Due to people’s inability to reason why there was blood flowing from women at random times, as well as being unable to discern whether or not a woman is aroused is what created the repression of women’s sexuality. “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” (Lovecraft). In relation to what I mentioned earlier, female sexuality was the “unknown” and therefore men at that time decided that the way to deal with it would be to repress and dehumanize it (Wood, 199). All throughout history, people have repressed female sexuality to the point where even in today’s progressive society, people still don’t fully accept the notion that women are or should be as sexual as men (Berkowitz, 2012). Sadly, because of patriarchy in religion, we have grown up in a world where the equality of male and female sexuality does not exist and this inequality is ingrained in our brains from infancy (Wood, 196). Religion teaches us that the pleasures and desires of sex come from the devil and if we engage in these desires, then we too are considered evil and
The existence of pornography is not a new invention. For years, humans have found certain depictions to be sexually arousing. Holmes and Holmes (2009), for example discuss how in ancient civilizations, Mesopotamia, for example, there were depictions of men and women in sexually explicit scenes on various household goods, such as plates and washbasi...
Richlin, Amy (ed). (1992). Pornography and Representation in Greece and Rome. New York: Oxford University Press.
Unlike sex, the history of sexuality is dependant upon society and limited by its language in order to be defined and understood.
...ver surpass its extraordinary success. The vast collection of the antique nude arose from this age and enriched the world today with its remarkable work. It seems that as Michelangelo explains God sparked divine gifts into their intellect, gifts designed to be shared and enjoyed with the whole world.
In the article “An Anthropological Look at Human Sexuality” the authors, Patrick Gray and Linda Wolfe speak about how societies look at human sexuality. The core concept of anthology is the idea of culture, the systems of attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors people acquire as a member of society. The authors give an in depth analysis on how human sexuality is looked at in all different situations.
In ancient Greek society, nudity was revered as a natural state of being. In exercise, art, and daily life, nudity was closely associated with the Greeks’ concept of youthfulness and beauty. The era was and continues to be famous for the depictions of precise, idealized anatomy that proliferated sculpture, pottery, and paintings produced by artists from the time. But this obsession with and celebration of the au naturel wasn’t afforded to all members of society. The lugubriously low social standing held by women at the time forced them to assume a more conservative way of dressing, as they continued to be disenfranchised and devalued.
People often end up on the opposite sides of the argument concerning the fine line between art and pornography. Artists sometimes include nude depictions or descriptions of the human form in their work. The artists and many other liberals and citizens of the art world argue that it is important for artists to feel the freedom to express themselves in any way that they wish. The problem with this liberty is that many people find the nude body offensive and believe that these images should not be considered art but pornography instead. This is a valid and important dilemma, but as Dennis Barrie describes art in a speech that was published in Art Journal, “…sometimes art is not beautiful, and sometimes it’s challenging, and sometimes it’s even offensive, and yet it can be art, even if it’s all those things” (Barrie 30). Artists should always be allowed to express themselves fully and not fear public reprimand despite the risk they may run of offending people who cannot appreciate their work.
Cook, A.D. “Nude Beauty Nude. Body of Art.” A.D. Cook figurative artist. 3 January 2013. Web. 13 April 2014.