Nude in art Essay

The nude has changed dramatically throughout time in terms of its role in the art world. It has been used to portray a persons power and their weakness, the way they see themselves and the way others see them. The majority of nude artworks are of the female nude, as postgraduatelighted by John Berger, men look at women, women look back at themselves universe looked at. Vanessa Beecroft, a present-day(a) artist deems to challenge the way society views the nude in both high art and everyday contemporary society.She challenges the way women are judged on their appearance a base concept that is seen throughout many pervious images of the nude in art. In 1599 Pieter Pauwel Rubens depicts just that, the judgment of a women based on looks in his painting, The Judgment of Paris, which depicts genus Venus the goddess of beauty and love being judged as the most glorious female by the judge Paris.In contrast to these female nudes, during the renaissance, Michelangelos nudes consisted of mainly males. He used the nude to show both desire and position as tumesce as his devotion to religion and art. The nude in art can been seen changing as society does throughout time. In the contemporary society we live in today, we, the audience, are more likely to accept the nude as part of everyday life because of the way mass media has influenced us as a society.However, before times when the nude was common sight and open sexual desire was seen as something preposterous, artists used the nude as a way of portraying their personal aesthetic ideals though religious figures, showing their love for both the art itself and their nude subjects. Michelangelo was first and foremost a sculptor. ane of his most famous nude sculpts was that of David depicted in the moments before he defeated Goliath. Created in 1504, Michelangelo sculpted for four years to create, in his give birth eyes, the finest sculpture of David possible.Michelangelos own dedication to the piece highlights his love for the subject as well as the art form. David was depicted as athletic but intrinsic with some fetchers such as his hand and head enlarged for emphasis. Davids naked form symbolised his high religious status to Michelangelo.He felt that flawlessness such as Davids should not be hidden, this can be seen throughout a range of Michelangelos works, both sculpted and painted where he depicts religious figures of high value as nudes and covers lower class subjects with the cloth of a slave as if to cover their shame. Therefore, it can be seen that Michelangelo mirrors his own ideals in the form of religious figures to depict the perfection he desires as well as display this to the audience for them to subconsciously judge the subjects of his work under their own ideals. During the Baroque era, Rubens depicts the scene of the judgment of Paris, this painting allows the male subject to openly judge the female on their beauty alone.While depicting this mythological twaddle Rubens a lso himself paints the Venus to meet his ideal expectations of a womans desirable qualities, both physically and temperamental and offers her to the audiences judgment also. Rubens has make up the women to show off their bodies in the most desirable way as well as highlight their key fetchers such as their nipples and lips in intricate red and gold against their pure skin, he paints the woman with petty(a) breasts and wide hips the ideal representation of female beauty at the time.Implied innocence hides the male voyeurism in this scene all figures are equally naked however, only the female torso is on show, all males in the image are either turning away from the audience or are modestly hidden by lavish drapings, furthermore, the woman are surrounded by small winged children named, Putti these figures are associated with love and sexual encounters.The ultimate goal for all the women in this painting is to win the love of Paris through their beauty and Venus ideal attraction s ymbolises the high value placed on this virtue and highlights their love and physical beauty as the most important quality they drive home to offer. Contemporary artist, Vanessa Beecroft challenges the way the nude has been viewed throughout past art as well as how it is perceived in modern society. Beecroft is most cognise for her confronting live performances in which a selection of like women are stood on high heels and not much else, facing the audiences gaze.Beecroft aims to provoke chemical reaction from the audience, both male and female, the gaze these models hold as well as their physical closeness to the audience highlight the fact that these women know they are being looked at and judged and consequently look back and judge the audience creating an uncomfortable but eye opening experience for both the models and the viewer. Beecroft challenges the way the nude body is perceived by both high art and by the public and questions a womans need to conform to societies expect ations as well as focusing on how the concept of beauty can change over a period of time, Beecroft states, maybe if they (the audience) see it twenty times theyll start not to think of it in the same way, Im not sure, its an experiment.In conclusion it can been seen that the nude has changed dramatically throughout time however, it has always been associated by different forms of beauty and judgment, due to the human nature of the artists that create such works. It can also be highlighted that the way the audience as well as the artist sees the nudes they depict can change during the artwork or during their lifetime depending on how they are influenced by the changing world around them.