Archives for January, 2008
I wrote this post as a prelude to a series of posts in the near future set out to help beginner painters, wannabe artists, and anybody else interested learn how to paint. I will include every “how to” paint resource I can get my hands on, so even if don’t take away any of my advice at the very least you should find somewhere else that can help. I know I’m not the best painter but I will share with you everything I know about painting from A to Z, and if that’s not enough you can use the links I’ll provide. The purpose is to help you, I’m not trying to sell anything. My advice is absolutely free. So take it or leave it!
First let’s look at why people paint. Why should you get started? People paint for a variety of different reasons.
- They might do it as a hobby, “Sunday painters” if you will.
- Some do it to let off steam. It is very therapeutic, the process of painting itself and the satisfaction you get from it.
- That leads to people doing it for something they can be proud of. When they feel they’ve accomplished something they can actually put it up on their walls for everybody to see.
- People paint for a couple extra bucks. There are plenty of people that can make a few dollars at fairs or flea markets, or on busy city streets with their artwork. There is a market for this, because not everybody who wants artwork can afford the stuff found at galleries.
- People paint for a living. Painting as a profession will never die. Even with all these technological breakthroughs, people still want good oil paintings hanging in their living room. People still want their portraits painted in genuine paint. Granted it takes a lot of skill to be able to reach this level.
- Some do it hoping to achieve greatness, with aspirations to be like the masters and to emulate them. A true artist rarely comes along in history. Could it be you?
Whatever the reason for painting, I highly recommend it. Most people come up to me and say they can’t paint, nor ever will be able to, and I think this is just hogwash. Some people just don’t feel like ever trying, and I understand this is not everyone’s cup of tea. To each his own.
You never know until you try. Most creative ventures are never begun because of an underlying fear. I’m guilty of this one myself and it’s what keeps me from pumping out canvas after canvas. I don’t want to fail, I don’t want to waste my time if it turns out bad, and I’d rather not find out the hard way that I’m not as good as I think in my head. But it’s this type of thinking that prevents some of the greatest artwork ever from being created. I may be no Leonardo, but I know I can do my best, and I know sitting around worrying about it accomplishes zilch. So I get around my fear.
The good thing about the would be amateur is the wealth of information available. With the internet, there are infinite resources at your fingertips, especially for the “How to Paint” tutorials. Each book or article is written by a different artist with different views and styles, no two are exactly alike.
What I intend to accomplish here is to provide a step by step tutorial on how I paint, and how you can too. Like I said I’m no expert, but maybe we could learn together. Each post will be a different chapter, which will include topics such as “Materials,” “Composition and Subject Matter,” “Techniques,” and plenty more. I intend to show plenty of pictures as we go, and maybe even a couple videos.
All of us have different backgrounds and maybe some of you have gone to art classes and art school and whatnot. I myself went to one drawing class when I was 11. It was comparable to my ninth grade art class, and didn’t really teach much (or rather I didn’t learn much). So most of my learning has been by doing and developing as I went. There is no better advice than to actually do it. Painting is not learned by reading a book alone.
Although there have a good deal of decent art books that I’ve read rich with information. The best art book I’ve read by far is Rudolph Arnheim’s “Art and Visual Perception.” It’s not light reading and I didn’t finish it in a day, but the point is to absorb the info on the pages, not just to race through it. This is the kind of book that I’ve gone back numerous times to reread passages, and I always end up learning something new every time. “Art and Visual Perception” is a great book that’s half psychology, half art book about how people see things, look at things, and understand them, and how this relates to art. I’m sure Arnheim could sum it up better, so you can take it from him. I wouldn’t recommend it to just anybody, but it is a must read for any serious painter.
There’s also a number of good television shows about painting that you can always find on public television in the afternoon. I think we all know and love Bob Ross. When I was first starting out painting years ago my parents bought one of the Bob Ross painting kits. It was great, it came with everything you need: palette, brushes, about 10 tubes of paint, painting knives, a book and a VHS, even a small canvas I think. You can’t develop creativity from tutorials like this, having to copy exactly what you see, but it’s great practice. I still use Bob Ross techniques for painting pine trees and reflections in water.
So all kinds of methods can be used to learn how to paint. I recommend hitting up the arts and crafts shop and buying one of those starter paint kits. If you’re brand new at it, I would start with acrylics, being easier to use, and you can wash the brushes in water instead of turpentine. Or you could get some oil paints, they’re generally a litle more expensive. You can get some small canvas boards for cheap, just for practice mainly, or you could get the larger stretched canvases. I use Fredrix medium tooth, red label canvases.
But whatever you do, just do it. Fail at first, it only teaches you. But have fun with it, and have with this tutorial. Stay tuned for upcoming posts, on “How to Paint.”
Until then…
See also How to Paint: Materials, How To Paint: Composition, How To Paint: Color, How To Paint: Techniques Learning Art and Mimicking the Masters
Technorati Tags: learning, art, painting, tutorial, how to, how to paint
As featured on Associated Content
Meet James Ensor, painter of masks and skeletons. What was it all about, those skulls and masks painted in such loud colors? What it was was a unique mastery unlike any other that has come before him or since. Born in Ostend, Belgium he quickly attained the master painter title, originally painting quite serene and realistic canvases. He founded the group “Les XX” or “The Twenty” but soon broke away to seclusion.
Bit by bit his paintings ventured into unknown territory becoming more and more bizarre. The painting “Scandalized Masks” marks a turning point away from conventional style and subject. Perhaps inspired by the dolls and masks sold in his mother’s gift shop, his paintings were dominated by masks and masquerade themes. Thin skinned and self conscious, he didn’t take it well when art critics thrashed his artwork saying it was too macabre and disturbing. They saw the paintings as too hideous which you might agree after looking at some of some of the more gruesome titles as “Skeletons Fighting For a Smoked Herring,” and “Skeletons Fighting For a Corpse.”
For Ensor, these paintings were allegories of the political and social climate of modern times. Rich with symbolism, his pictures were often satirical parodies of the behavior of his fellow Belgians and of humanity in general. A political satire he executed in 1888 was probably his most famous work, “Entry of Christ Into Brussels.” Here we have the biblical second coming of Christ into the capital city in modern times, met with the citizens as if it was a parade. The mayor, the upper crust, the politicians and advertisers use the event for their own personal gain and publicity. The people are drunk with self interest as they yearn to be seen in such a spectacle. The parade shadows and belittles the main event, Christ himself, who is barely seen in the street on his donkey.
His many mask paintings show crude and inhuman people wearing a mask over a mask, clearly signifying people’s two-faced nature. He expressed his opinions through his pictures not just of his critics and contemporaries, but of mankind in general, making quite a statement. Despite the rejections of many of his seemingly more scandalous works, his paintings continued to be exhibited. More and more his Belgian public cherished him and his works. He was eventually made a baron, and although his creative genius waned in his later years, he died a much loved national celebrity.
He would influence the Expressionist and Surrealist art movements and artists such as Emil Nolde and Paul Klee. He can be found referenced in modern pop culture in the “They Might Be Giants” song “Meet James Ensor” seen in this video.
See “Self Portrait in 1960,” “Self Portrait With Masks,” and “Self Portrait in a Hat”
Also see our model of “Scandalized Masks” by me and Noah,
Surfing the image archives in the Public Domain can be very tedious and uneventful. Mostly you find pictures of people long dead and forgotten, some famous but you probably wouldn’t read about anyway, and a lot of obsolete maps and whatnot. But after a while you’re bound to strike oil, and struck I did in the form of Edmund Dulac. I came across a good dozen or so images of his illustrations and I was enthralled to say the least.
I don’t recall ever hearing about him before but looking at his pictures they struck as very familiar. Had I known about him before I would have included him in my post about Illustration in general. The pictures remind me of some well illustrated books I remember reading as a child. Come to think of it, he very well could have graced the pages of my bedtime stories.
Edmund Dulac was born in France in 1882 and was popular during the “Golden Age of Illustration” of the early 20th century. Some illustrator greats of that era were Sir John Tenniel , Howard Pyle, Beatrix Potter and others. Akin to such artists as Wassily Kandinsky later on, he started studying law before eventually getting bored with it and turning to art. Winning prizes for art competitions early in his career certainly motivated him to pursue what he truly wanted to do. When he was 22 he was commissioned to illustrate the books of the Brontë sisters. This would start a prolific and successful career.
He went on to partner with galleries to illustrate books and sell the paintings out of the gallery. Some books from this arrangement were stories from the Arabian Nights, Sleeping Beauty, and the Poems of Edgar Allen Poe. The illustration above was from a story I remember called The Princess and the Pea by Hans Christian Anderson, where a pea was under all those mattresses and she could still feel it, proving she was indeed a true princess.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words and I think illustrations like these add value a thousand-fold to each story. At the end of this post I’ve added a link to the other illustration images. Some of the others include “The Mermaid,” “The Garden of Paradise,” and “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” and are definitely worth checking out.
My recent interest in illustration goes hand in hand with my personal goal of illustrating some of the classic books in the public domain. I plan on attempting a shot at illustrating “Alice’s Adventure’s In Wonderland,” and “Aesop’s Fables” among other things. I just recently picked up a pen for the first time in a while; I’ve mainly been using the brush for the most part recently when at all. So, we’ll see how they turn out.
Although, my most likely method would be to actually paint the illustrations on canvas as many illustrators do, and scan the canvases as needed, to make prints or to resize. I’ll keep you informed of my progress.
Also see Illustration
Image Gallery at Wikipedia of Edmund Dulac
Technorati Tags: illustration, illustrator, art
What actually is art? Give me ten people and I’ll give you ten different definitions of the word. What it means to you is as unique to you as your fingerprints. But who’s to say what qualifies as art, or fine art? What distinguishes the art of Jean Michel Basquiat from Rembrandt van Rijn? Besides the time differences, each artist’s art have been met with different types of criticism. Was one art, and the other just crummy art? Who’s to say?
What we can say though is there is an unmistakable mainstream art circuit with art dealers and galleries, critics and fine artists with or without their MFA’s. Sometimes this crowd can be quite pretentious and judges art in its own way, usually following the natural cycles of fads and trends. What’s hip today may be tomorrow’s old news. That’s just how it is.
But true art and artistry can be found everywhere. Wherever there is creativity there is art. You don’t need to hang around in posh upper class galleries and drink expensive wine to be a real artist.
Jean Dubuffet and Art Brut
“Art Brut” in French literally means “rough” or “raw” art. This was translated to “Outsider Art” in English. It was started by the painter and sculptor Jean Dubuffet to describe art that is outside of the official art culture. He knew the value of art which normally doesn’t hang on gallery walls but nonetheless should be recognized and not necessarily written off as lesser art.
Dubuffet mainly focused on the art of the mentally ill in insane asylums. One particularly noteworthy example was Adolf Wolfli. As a mental patient diagnosed with psychosis, he was an extremely prolific artist creating epic novels of 45 volumes with over 25,000 pages and 1600 illustrations. With minimal resources he would slowly create work after work with only one pencil and two sheets of paper a week at his disposal. This meant drawing on tiny bits of paper, using small stubs of pencils, and anything he could find or beg off of people to get his work done.
Wolfli’s work was often characterized as “schizophrenic art” with obsessive symmetry, ornamental patterns, reduced depth. Every piece of the paper is covered, leaving no white or empty space. Another similar work is by the psychiatric patient Friederich Schroder, who drew the “Swan Doll’s Dance of Death.” With a perfect mirror symmetry down the middle, the drawing shows a monster with a grotesque smile wearing a crown and holding his arms curving downward with birds’ heads for hands, combining animal with man.
Naive and Primitive Artists
Dubuffet was working with the mentally ill artists, while “Outsider Art” outside of France was known to be a much more general term. It included not just the psychotic art, but also naive, self-taught, and primitive art as well. On the American scene in the early to mid twentieth century we had Grandma Moses, the renowned folk artist painting such countryside favorites as “This Old Checkered House in Winter” which was the subject of many paintings, one of which was appraised on “Antiques Roadshow” in 2004 for $60,000. Several of her paintings have appeared on Hallmark holiday cards.
Earlier we have Horace Pippin, born in my local area in West Chester in 1888, who painted “Giving Thanks” and “Domino Players.” Even earlier in France, there was Henri Rousseau, with his dream-like representations of jungles and jungle animals.
All of these artists could have been considered Naive painters because they were self-taught and their paintings possessed a child-like quality to them. This doesn’t mean all Naive painters had no formal education, but as it relates to Outsider Art it generally does. In modern times there is no stigma attached to this genre of art.
Children’s Art
I talked about how children learn art in my post Learning Art. The way we learn as we grow up and experiment with art starts out with an expression close to ancient societies’ art. For example, in ancient Egyptian wall paintings you will find people in a row side by side with no overlap. Children would express the same type of thing when they draw people in a crowd next to each other in a row instead of showing any signs of overlap. The way they see it, if someone’s arm looks as if it disappears into the back of another person, this makes no visual sense. You wouldn’t really see a person’s arm actually going inside someone else, so why would one draw it that way.
The same is true for people in buildings. When a child draws a person inside a building, they wouldn’t show a face looking out from a window, because this would mean there is simply a floating head in a window sill. If anything their art was more true to reality, than to aesthetics and perspective.
One funny recent story which raises the question of the authority of art dealers is a woman selling her son’s scribble paintings as priceless works of modern art. She didn’t tell the dealers her son was 6 or 7 years old and the paintings were more or less doodles. Nonetheless the dealers saw the “genius” of them and bought them top dollar.
If anything is to be learned from children and from child-like naive paintings is that art can be appreciated for art’s sake. It doesn’t have to be perfect and it certainly does not need the approval of avant garde art experts. Art can be found in the small crafts of Christmas Kitsche statues, the scribbles of prisoners and psychiatric patients and even the finger paintings of gorillas. Art should be appreciated for what it is, and what’s its attempting to be.
Whether it’s good art, bad art, crummy art, children’s art, “Outsider Art” is still art.
Technorati Tags: art, painting, outsider art, art brut, modern art
Antonio who? Chances are you’ve probably never heard of the nineteenth century Realist painter Antonio Mancini. But if you have, or if you had the pleasure of seeing the recent special exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, you’ll wonder how such a great painter slipped through the cracks of art history and became unknown.
At the young age of twelve when other boys were playing street sports, goofing off, and otherwise just plain being young boys, little Antonio was admitted into the Institute of Fine Arts, Naples. At the age of twenty he exhibited two paintings at the Paris Salon. This was an accomplishment for an artist of any age, but for the young artist it would begin a long and prolific career. He would produce painting after painting, masterpiece upon masterpiece.
Mancini was commissioned for high society portraits to earn a living but his favorite subjects were young acrobats and street performers. The “Saltimbanco” seen above was a common subject, with his favorite model Luigiello making common appearances.
In Paris in the 1870s, Mancini met up with the Impressionists Edgar Degas and Edouard Manet. More importantly was the meeting of John Singer Sargent who would later call him “the greatest painter who ever lived.” That’s quite a compliment coming from one of the most successful portrait painters of their time. Sargent was integral in Mancini’s success as he introduced him to many of the rich patrons who could never have too many portraits of themselves.
Innovation was definitely a quality this painter possessed. He invented a grid screen from strings and placed it between himself and the sitter. Another grid would be placed in front of the canvas so the perspective would turn out perfect. Sometimes the grid marks would be deliberately kept on the canvas. On some paintings this would be very obvious and would give them much character.
In 1881, Mancini suffered mental illnesses which would land him in a psychiatric hospital. After this time he was still productive with his art, but found hard financial times, relying on friends to stay alive. After World War 1 he was able to once again live comfortably and paint. He died in Rome in 1930.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art has a current [01/08] special exhibition on show until January 20, 2008. It shows many portraits in oil and pastel, several self portraits from different phases of his life, many of his saltimbanco Luigiello in different compostions including “After the Duel,” “After the Performance” and the huge canvas “Il Saltimbanco” (detail above). Fifteen of the paintings are now a part of the museum’s permanent collection as a gift from New York art dealer Vance N. Jordan.
As promised this is the second edition of “Have Fun With Art.” You can read the first post, Part 1, here.
More people would be interested in art if they just knew how to have fun with it. Now this may take a minimal amount of participation, but like everything, you get what you put in. For instance, you may not consider yourself artistically inclined, but when is the last time you actually tried to do something creative? Whatever you create is art, don’t let yourself down. And do not listen to negative criticism, it is worthless.
Aside from creating art yourself, you can still be an active participant at museums and galleries. You can do this by looking at the paintings and trying to figure things out about it, trying to guess the artist’s motives, or even mood. Not to mention you can be active literally when certain museums have workshops that let you make art in a fun way. This is for all ages, so get your hands dirty!
The Warhol in Pittsburgh has workshops for visitors to experiment with the type of materials Andy Warhol used, including silk screening. This is every weekend from noon to 4. Not too long ago, the Philadelphia Museum of Art had a similar event with Warhol techniques. Keep up to date with your local art museums in your newspaper for events such as these.
Whimsical Portraits
I hear it all the time that artists have humongous egos because they constantly paint themselves. These narcissistic painters must love looking at themselves in the mirror. What most people don’t realize is that models can be expensive and your reflection is always there to pose for you, and won’t fidget that much.
The good part about this is a little thing called “Painter’s License.” This is a rule that states as a painter I can paint whatever I want on my canvas, and any and all resemblance to persons living and deceased is strictly intentional. Painter’s License allows the landscapist to move a water tower to the left side of the picture to balance the composition or an artist painting his own likeness to omit that blemish.
Take this picture I painted of myself at a nineteenth century dance hall. I never picked up the guitar to play a serious tune in my life. OK, I did once in high school, but I couldn’t play “Mary Had a Little Lamb” today if I tried. The point is it looked good and what the hell. How about Self Portrait as Napoleon, talk about ego.
I stumbled on this guy’s website and it gave me a good laugh (read the captions, they’re hilarious). What he did was photoshop himself as famous artwork or photographs. Why not? I painted my landlord as Henry VIII once just for fun. Not because he acted like the English monarch, just because he looks a lot like him. Apparently he didn’t like the idea that much, and in retrospect I don’t blame him at all. But it was fun to paint.
Here are some notably odd self-portraits:
This is Jan Vermeer’s self likeness painting. It is odd because only about 35 Vermeer paintings exist today and this is the only self portrait we know of, from behind…
Jean-Baptiste-Simeon-Chardin self-portrait
This was late in Chardin’s career when he switched from oil to pastel. It shows himself as an old tourist. Very peculiar, isn’t it?
Salvador Dali. That’s all I have to say.
Something of interest here is the portraits of Madame Ginoux by both Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin. The woman was painted by the two artists at the same time in the same room. There is is a clear distinction between the two. In one, the woman is sitting showing a body language of affection toward the artist, with a more likelihood of romanticism, while the other shows a more cold demeanor. The same is true of the representations by each artist. Can you tell who painted each?
Poor Vincent. He should probably stop sending his body parts to women, he might be more successful.
Spot the Celebrity
Sometimes painters appease certain people by putting them in their paintings. It was not uncommon for an art patron to have the artist include him as a saint or biblical figure, or otherwise glorify them. Sometimes a painter may include a certain celebrity or colleague as a compliment.
In the next couple of paintings try to pick out the following celebrities:
a) Walt Whitman
b) The king and queen in an unlikely place
Interesting Remakes
As I talk about in my post about reproducing art, I explain that many artist will recreate a famous painting or another artist’s composition. The idea is that the artist puts his own style into the new painting, and creates something new in his own way. Click on the original painting below to see the new rendition: (Diego Velazquez is perhaps the most emulated artist in history)
Diego Velazquez’s Las Maninas, as repainted by Pablo Picasso (click for Picasso)
Diego Velazquez’s Pope Innocent X as recreated by Francis Bacon:
The Johannes Vermeer (seen above) as repainted by Salvador Dali as a ghost:
Francisco Goya’s “May 3, 1808″ as recreated by Pablo Picasso:
Paul Cezanne’s “Bathers” as Pablo Picasso’s “Les Demoiselles d’ Avignon”
Art As Mood Enhancer
As I’ve said before some art can be an incredible mood enhancer. If you’re ever feeling down and need an uplifter, just look up some Frans Hals paintings. I can’t say it enough, these pictures will make you smile.
Conclusion
There are many ways to have fun with art, but I must recommend mostly actually doing it. Many people have come up to me telling me how they can’t paint or draw. Well, its probably because they never do it, for one thing, and even if they think they’re not good at it, they should do it regardless.
Nobody’s good at anything when they’re a beginner, it just takes practice. No matter who you are there are numerous benefits to creating art. The act of creation itself can be very gratifying. Not to mention, there are numerous psychological benefits to making art. It gives you something to be proud of, the process is very therapeutic, at the very least it gives you a hobby, something to do.
Here is a link to the National Gallery of Art Kids homepage. Hey, if you think you can’t draw then acting like a kid again would be helpful. But I think anybody can have fun with it. Play around, click on the still life program to create your own still life with props of your choosing. Overall its a pretty good resource.
I’ll finish off with this Joan Miro painting inspired by an old folk tale.
The dog barks endlessly at the moon to which the moon replies,
“You know…I don’t give a damn.”
6 Jan
Disrobed: Nude Paintings, Sculpture, and Photography
Posted on 2008 under Erotica | 2 Comments
Scandalous! Shocking! Without modesty! Nudity has been portrayed without shame throughout history and has been met with varying criticism depending on the time and culture.
Early Nude Art
Ever since early cave paintings the natural human form has been portrayed in its full unclothed glory. This was just how the artists saw his fellow people, and depending on the region, people wore very little anyway. Since then societies have presented the nude form in paintings, drawing, photography, and any other media. This either demonstrates humanity’s strong sexual nature, or just a propensity for making aesthetically pleasing artwork, or perhaps a combination of the two.
Perhaps no society was more naked in its art than Pompeii. This ancient Roman city would meet its doom at the wrath of Mount Vesuvius when the volcano erupted and wreaked havoc on the city below. The city would be covered and ruined by the lava flow but an 18th century find would uncover remnants of a forgotten world, including the remains of many of its inhabitants exactly how they met their fiery demise.
The society shows no sign of bashfulness in its many frescoes and surviving statues. In them you’ll find depicted sexual acts, more sex, sex, and just plenty of nudity. Being an ancient Roman city, they often depicted gods and goddesses in their art. The most risque probably being Priapus, the god of fertility. Also of interest are the many statues from early Pompeii, which today may raise a few eyebrows. This one’s no “David.”
Erotica
Further through art history, namely long after the invention of oil painting and when art drifted away from a dominant religious tone, nudity was a common thing. Retouching on the ancient themes, pederasty in Roman mythology in paintings and sculpture, carnal love, and in general sexuality (sometimes not so delicate) were painted time and again. This was perceived usually as good taste. Of course, that wasn’t always the general consensus.
In Michelangelo’s career, he painted the human form realistically and without apologies. The subtle homo-erotic tones of the Sistene’s ceiling probably went straight over the head of the pope and any other religious leader for that matter. The musculature of the male form painted in detail and the poses of the many male figures probably would have been omitted from a religious painting. The olives resembling certain parts of anatomy were perhaps there as a joke or subtle reference.
In the case of Caravaggio, his pubescent cupid displayed in “Amor Vincet Omnia” or Love Conquers All , would in these days be met with hostility, and the artist considered a pedophile. But in those days, the nude form young and old was nothing to shy from, and the boy was simply another model paid to pose. Caravaggio’s painting is characteristic of his work, steering clear of the idealized subjects, instead showing a common street boy, crooked teeth and all.
Much modern debate has come over Amor’s primary owner keeping the painting behind a curtain. While some say that he was embarrassed of the supposed eroticism and kept it hidden, others say that covering a painting is meant to keep it as a piece de resistance, to be uncovered only after the rest of the artwork was shown, as the best of show.
Borderline Pornography
It probably wasn’t until the 18th and 19th centuries in Europe, particularly Victorian times of the 19th century when nudity in art started to seem inappropriate. In an age when even in the summer one must cover themselves with layer upon layer, and sexual matters altogether were strictly taboo, its no wonder the paintings were more G rated. This isn’t to say that the subtle was absent. Take this Fragonard painting The Swing. It was also called “The Happy Accidents of the Swing.” Humorously showing a glimpse up a dress, an unquestionable infidelity, and a cupid statue with a “hush” gesture all show this French painting’s sexual symbolism.
Tame by today’s standards, The Swing was quite sultry in its day. Going further into the beginning of the nineteenth century, Goya would make a breakthrough in erotic art and paint the first showing of pubic hair. See “The Naked Maja“, which was the complement of the Clothed Maja. Both paintings are wrapped in mystery, as to who the model is and who the intended recipient, but most people conjecture Fransisco was romantically involved with the sitter. Either way, it would get the artist into much trouble. It even got him fired from a lucrative court position, as a result of the Spanish Inquisition deeming the painting obscene.
Later we continue to have scandals resulting from a repressed mass of people. This John Singer Sargent painting called “Madame X” was originally painted with one shoulder strap off and on her arm. Mothers cover your children’s eyes, they’ll be scarred for life! Sargent later had to repaint the strap in it’s correct position, to appease the prudish public.
In the nineteenth century, the “Father of American Painting” Thomas Eakins would be in hot water for removing the loincloth of a nude model in an art class. One of the girls promptly told her parents of such a horrible thing, which would lead to Eakins’ removal from professorship at the Pennsylvania Academy. Eakins wasn’t ashamed of the naked human body and frequently shot many nude photos, even posing nude himself on the other end of the camera as well. His paintings sometimes had nudity in them as well.
Subtle Undertones?
Modern photography is rife with naked forms ranging from the sexually charged to the artistic erotica. Modern advertisement also has subliminal sexual undertones for its psychological value, portraying people in borderline explicit poses and gestures in an effort to maximize effectiveness. Sex sells!
Speaking of sex selling, the paintings of Rembrandt van Rijn have been known to contain subliminal messages to reach the subconscious. The Dutch word for sex has been found in the underpaintings of several works written in large, barely visible letters. The painting of the Militia of Captain Cocq could possibly have a deep subconscious image. See where that shadow is grabbing? Captain who? Interesting.
Modern and Contemporary Nudity
Painting in the modern day, especially at art schools involves the female nude for a variety of reasons. Besides its classical and/or romantic value, the female body is generally a good subject to paint for its curves and contours, giving the student valuable practice in form and shape.
One may say that society has come a long way since Fragonard’s Swing painting. But at the same time it is not that probable that a painting of a school teacher skinny dipping with his students would be generally accepted, at least not in modern America.
So times change, as well as views on sexuality, nudity, and the human body. Each society and culture has its own views, and inside each has subcultures with differing views and values, such as nudist camps. It also matters which part of the world you’re from, as a nudist beach in France is more the norm than a nudist beach in New Jersey.
No matter what day and age, boys will be boys and seek the naked drawings in art books, erotically charged paintings will turn us on, subtle sexual undertones may touch our subconscious and we will always have nude paintings on our walls for whatever the perceived value.
Technorati Tags: art, painting, sculpture, nude, nudity, erotica, erotic
Here is a good compilation of links to nude art on the internet called Cybernude
As featured on Associated Content
Before I told you about Friday after 5 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in my post about the museum. Let me introduce to you today the other place to be on a Friday night once a month in Philadelphia’s historic Old City neighborhood. I speak of First Friday which is on, you guessed it, the first Friday of every month. It’s when all the galleries mostly on 2nd and 3rd streets from Spring Garden to Market open their doors for art openings, wine and beer, hors d’oeuvres and snacks, and one big artsy get-together.
The Place To Be
This event, started in 1991 after Wilmington, Delaware began theirs a couple years earlier, offers many local up and coming artists the opportunity to show and sell their art without dealing with the stuffier galleries in more richy neighborhoods. On the other end, people of all walks of life can walk and mingle with the art crowd in a laid back manner to look at new art whether they are planning to buy or not.
You can usually meet the artist at the opening at certain times, and talk to them about their work, get their autograph or what have you, or just shoot the breeze. If you’re not feeling too social most galleries have a guest book where you can leave a note of appreciation, your email, or just a friendly hello. You can find some pamphlets regarded the artists with a little more information, such as a website. It’ll include all the artists if its a group show, or just the featured artist. I ran into one gallery last night featuring Chuck Close
Music and Good Times
The whole atmosphere is what contributes to such a good time. As you hop from gallery to gallery you are spectator to all kinds of entertainment. I’ve seen fire breathers, sword swallowers, belly dancers, jugglers, and there’s always the pan handlers and street musicians. An old man with an electric violin, a young girl with a banjo, whole bands, and singers are all there on the sidewalk for your enjoyment and generous contribution.
Not every band is outside, though. As you go into each gallery or book store you’ll find all kinds of music being played, my favorite being a certain group who play at the F.A.N. gallery on Arch street. They’re an Irish group called Ceol Mor, with a guitarist, a flutist, violin player, and a fellow that plays the concertina, guitar, and sings. They play classic folk Irish tunes from up beat dancing numbers to old drinking songs. They’ve been known to take some requests, too.
If you’re still in a dancing mood you can visit one of the several clubs you’ll find within walking distance from the galleries such as Cuba Libre, if you’re in a salsa kind of mood and Club Spice for the adventurous Indian dancer. Cuba Libre has an open front so passersby can “people watch” and see some nice Spanish dancing.
Good Food
Most showrooms will feed you and make available nice lagers or wines for a small donation. You can always see some seltzer and pretzels at the very least. They spare no expense in some places, giving you a wide array of gourmet cheeses, fruits, crackers and meats you can enjoy whilst gazing at the artwork.
I must plug a certain Jewish establishment, if you’re to take away any knowledge of the good food you can find at First Friday. You simply must give this gallery a shot, you won’t be disappointed. The artwork is okay, usually very modern and minimalist. But the food is to die for. The height of the celebration there is the Rabbi speaking and giving the Sabbath prayer. He’s a nice guy and usually cracks a joke or two. They’ll give you a decent glass of wine to toast, to boot. After the prayer, on a cold night you’ll find yourself wiht a decent cup of hot chicken soup. Take advantage of the best brownies you’ll ever eat before they go. And they go fast. Don’t miss out on the other food either, such as a nice pasta salad and other Jewish cuisines.
Check It Out
A good gallery to visit is F.U.E.L. on the corner of 3rd and Arch streets. This is the one probably most aimed at the hip young crowd with loud music and featuring undergraduate artwork. They seem to keep a show on for a couple months before changing. Good music, food, and atmosphere with two floors to check out, it’s always worth a visit. Sometimes there’s a line to get it.
Another must-see is the Clay Studio. Nothing but clay and ceramics fill this two storyart house. They usually change their collection each month, featuring several local artists. It has a gallery to view and a gift shop for the more economical. Rarely am I disappointed with their stuff, ranging from traditional pottery to the abstract. I was lucky once to view a demonstration of pottery making on a pottery wheel. The boy was nice enough to let me hold one of the fresh cups and I went ahead and dented it by mistake. Oh well, I don’t claim to be a potter.
The good part of all this is you won’t have to check up on dates and times. It’s open every first Friday of the month, rain or shine. Most galleries are open from about 5 to 8:30. You can get away with showing up at 7:30 but I’d recommend at least arriving between 6 and 7 or earlier. You may get lucky with a couple galleries staying open till 9, but after that they’re pretty much packing up. Most of these galleries are open throughout the month, but you need to check the times and sometimes you may need an appointment.
So it may not be the highlight of your month but sure will on that particular night. A good Friday night could consist of eating at one of the many good restaurants in the area, shimmying by Old City for the gallery walk and then dancing the rest of the night away.
No matter what you’re plan, you’re sure to have a good time.
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