Tracking Historical Representations of the Female Nude

Tracking Historical Representations of the Female Nude



French painting in the mid-nineteenth century is characterized by the critical transformation from the academic, neoclassical style to more innovative and progressive types. The idealized, nude goddess of the neoclassical tradition was gradually replaced by modern varieties in which avant-garde painters chose the representation of the female nude as a front for their challenge to the accepted standards of the Academy

In French academic art, female nudity was only permissible within the context of a recognizable narrative in an imaginary, mythological or biblical landscape. However, forward-thinking artists portray women in a naturalistic form, engaged in everyday activities, undermining established clichés of femininity and eliminating the voyeurism associated with traditional nudes of the period.

By analyzing the evolving relationship between the fine art of the female nude, its reception, and political movements in nineteenth-century France, we will explore how realist and impressionist representations diverged from the ancient Greek ideal. Painters shifted attention away from the female body as an object of erotic desire and onto artistic concerns of…

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Women’s work in the home – then and now

Image
Women’s work in the home – then and now In many ways, Swedish industrialisation began in the home. Women spun, wove and sewed clothes for payment in between their daily agricultural tasks, food  preparation and childcare. But didn’t all industrial production gradually move into the factories? ‟No, it didn’t. That is a  common misconception,” says economic historian Malin Nilsson, who is researching paid home industry work. ‟That is an oversimplified description of history, as there were many parallel processes going on at once, and in fact home industry work still exists today”, says Malin Nilsson, researcher in economic history at the Lund University School of Economics and Management. Nowadays, we may not find quite so much home industry work specifically in Sweden but, altogether, there are at least 60 million home industry workers globally (and just over 200 million more home workers who do not have industrial occupations). ‟This is a cheap and flexible workforce and for m...
Read more

A pregnant woman during a nationwide rally in support of abortion rights in Washington, DC, on May 14, 2022. Sarah Silbiger/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Image
A pregnant woman during a nationwide rally in support of abortion rights in Washington, DC, on May 14, 2022. Sarah Silbiger/Bloomberg via Getty Images Popular culture tends to focus on a few elements of pregnancy: morning sickness, the growing baby bump, and, of course, mood swings. But that ignores more dangerous, less well-known conditions associated with pregnancy. Up to 10 percent of pregnant US women are diagnosed with gestational diabetes and uncontrolled high blood sugar; untreated, this can result in a difficult delivery, and risks developing into Type 2 diabetes years later. Meanwhile, 2 to 8 percent of women worldwide have symptoms of preeclampsia, a condition involving high blood pressure that can lead to fatal seizures if untreated, can damage the mother’s organs, and increases the risk of chronic disease later in life for the baby. But even a supposedly normal, healthy pregnancy with no complications can lead to a lot more than just morning nausea. And the ordeal isn’t ove...
Read more

The colony of **Jamaica gained independence** **from Britain** on 6 August 1962. In Jamaica, this date is celebrated as Independence Day, a national holiday.

Image
The colony of **Jamaica gained independence** **from Britain** on 6 August 1962. In Jamaica, this date is celebrated as Independence Day, a national holiday. The island became a Spanish colony in 1509. The Spanish carried out ethnic cleansing operations against the indigenous Taino people. In 1655, British forces took the island and it became a British colony.  The British brought many thousands of slaves from Africa and forced them to work on British plantations in Jamaica. Over the years, some slaves escaped and joined the Taino in the mountains, forming a society which the British called “Maroons”. The Maroons won a war against the British (1728–1740), but lost a second war (1795–1796). In 1834, slavery was abolished, although life for the 300,000 Jamaican slaves changed very little as the British still held all the land, wealth, power and privileges. In the late 19th and early 20th century, the economy was changing; sugar declined and the banana trade grew. Many old sugar plant...
Read more

The town that murdered their bully, 1981 Ken Rex McElroy was a man who lived in Skidmore

Image
The town that murdered their bully, 1981 Ken Rex McElroy was a man who lived in Skidmore, Missouri. McElroy was indicted of 21 convictions which consisted of assault, arson, burglary, animal cruelty, sheep and hog rustling and and child abuse by the time he was 47.  McElroy was born in 1934 and was the 15th child to a poor immigrant couple. He dropped out of school at 15 and quickly gained a reputation of being a trouble maker. 21 charges were brought against him, however victims of the crimes often did not pursue legal action after McElroy would stalk, attack and harass them. This led to McElroy avoiding all of these charges except 1.  McElroy fathered 10 children between different women. His last wife, Trena McCloud, was 12 when they met. McElroy abused her repeatedly and she became pregnant at 14. McCloud's parents refused McElroy to marry her. In response, McElroy burned down their family home and shot and killed their family dog.  McElroy married the 14 year old to e...
Read more

Desnudas, topless Times Square women, spark debate over street performers

Image
Desnudas, topless Times Square women, spark debate over street performers When the bare breasts come out in Manhattan's carnivalesque Times Square, the reactions never fail. Tourists gawk. Necks crane. Smartphone cameras snap away.  But one response the "painted-lady"  entertainers of New York didn't expect? A debate about whether their semi-nude solicitations for tips might imperil the city's most popular pedestrian thoroughfare. Following an outcry this summer over the women's stark appearances as well as complaints about harassment by costumed characters, Mayor Bill de Blasio recently proposed ripping up the Times Square plazas, which are frequented by an estimated 400,000 pedestrians a day. "It's wrong. It's wrong," de Blasio told CBS News about the thong-wearing models, who, like the area's ubiquitous cartoon mascots, earn tips in exchange for appearing in photos.This situation is going to change. This is what I'll guarantee you,...
Read more