Nude Statues Research Paper

In Classical art and in Renaissance art, nudity was relevant and useful to the expression of the idea that the creator was trying to convey. Time has not changed the relevance or usefulness of nude art. First, it must be stated that all nude art is not acceptable. Pornography and other forms should in no way be considered as meaningful art. There is a certain underlying intelligence that cannot be separated from nude art. Once this intelligence is removed, the nude art no longer holds any meaning or significance.

Nude figures have been featured in art works since around 30 to 25,000 B.C. And throughout the history of art, we can see a lot of artists being inspired and influenced by great talents before them, in one way or another they would carry the style or ideas of those previous artists into their own art and create new masterpieces. One particular example is Édouard Manet’s Olympia from the Realism period, and Yasumasa Morimura’s Futago. The two paintings share great similarities in their composition, but the content and purpose of the paintings, and style wise the two pieces are very different.

They would say that they are simply acknowledging a part of America’s history. For example, an article from foxnews.com states that the National Portrait Gallery says, “’… the bust is in keeping with the museum’s goal to see the past clearly and objectively’” (Anti-Abortion Groups Demand Portrait Gallery Remove Planned Parenthood Founder Bust). I completely disagree with this defense because busts are not meant for people who have done such controversial and terrible things. The museum should just keep documents or have a plaque to explain her life and horrible acts that she committed. The National Portrait Gallery should remove Margaret Sanger’s bust because busts and statues are meant for people who have made a positive and incredible impact in the world. They are meant for the people who want to change the world for the greater good and not for destruction. For instance, Abraham Lincoln’s statue was created because he was an American president; he was the president who tried to get rid of slavery once and for all. He was for the people, all of them; he was in no way against any of

Ashley states that “statues of the individuals who are symbols of should be removed, but they should also stay because it's a part of history”.

The reading claims that nudes throughout artistic history have been an important source of beauty and controversy. Nudes began to spike during the Baroque period as they were used for the more expressive and emotional arts of the time. In the nineteenth century, nudes became more common, yet became more sensitive. Artists would train by drawing nudes of ancient Greek statues and figures from myth. However, many artists would then move on to create works depicting prostitutes or peasant naked women. This would not please patrons as they were extremely societally taboo. However, this did not start artists from making them, as they moved into the twentieth and twenty-first century. This shows the importance of artistic nudes and their impact

The depiction of the nude female figure relaxing has been a resounding subject throughout the history of art. From Etruscan sculpture to Picasso’s Blue Nudes, the use of nude women in art has represented a variety of messages over the centuries. Renowned artists Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Henri Matisse have carried on this tradition of depicting female nudes at leisure, in the respective pieces Nude, circa 1872 and Nude on Sofa, 1923. Both artists worked mainly from Paris and were raised from working class French families. Despite their upbringings, the similarities between the two are few. Matisse’s Nude on Sofa is 20 x 24 in. and Renoir’s Nude is 14¾ in x 10 in. both works are oil on canvas and are currently being displayed in the Norton

Throughout history the subject of human body and nudity has always been a topic that artists have taken into consideration when painting, depending on the time period that they were living in and style that they were working in. By looking at the history of art through the 19th century, it is very clear that this subject was by far the most important and most consistent topic throughout this specific time period. Other subject matters such as still life, everyday life, landscapes, biblical and mythical stories and etc at some point were the most important subjects for artists to paint due to the political, social, economical and religious status of the city or country that they were living in. However

In the Ancient Greek historical Art, nude male figures were used to depict the beauty of the human body as well as the new focusing in the evolution of art. "The nude first became significant in the art of ancient Greece, where athletic competitions at religious festivals celebrated the human body, particularly the male, in an unparalleled way." (Jean) Thus, the social standard of the time in aesthetic, modesty and morality was reflected in every nudity art work .Nude male figures, in sculptures and paintings, of warriors, charioteers and musicians had become more and more popular as the symbol of energy and power of life or were used as the symbol of God, Goddess and Heroes. But nude figures of Gods and Goddess were no longer allowed by the Christianity in the Renaissance because of emphasizing “on chastity and celibacy further discounted depictions of nakedness” (Jean) , nude figures of athletic were used as an expression of virility as well as the beauty of the human body. Nudity in the Middle Ages became sinful, therefore, nude figures were rare in the medieval art and the artists were focusing on creating art about God and Goddess and their power rather than depicting the beauty of the human body. And by the end of the medieval period, nude female figures intended to be attractive and slowly brought back into art and became popular again. In the Baroque to Modern art, nudity still played an important role in art. In the Baroque period, nude art had changed and became

Over the years many artist have viewed sensitive subjects within their work. Sex is one of the sensitive subjects that has been viewed in a positive and negative way. Before and during the 19th century, most paintings, sculptures, and art pieces focused on the features of a human's body. During this time, most artist believed that showing these features of a human could show the role a woman and man had in life. Sculptures in early times focused on the body of a man and showed distinctive features from head to toe. Most sculptures were representations of Greek Gods, which showed their strength and power throughout their body. Showing the sexual side of men in art, lead to showing the sexual features of a woman. The sexual features of a

Women throughout history, from the 1500’s till now have been looked at as objects. In the 1500’s during the time of the Renaissance woman were often portrayed in art in the nude. Curves at that time showed women as being goddess like. The more curvy and voluptuous you were the more beautiful men saw you. Artists who painted the female body were often commissioned by rich men to paint these paintings to hang in their houses. Women in this age are still portrayed in art in the nude. Mostly in nude magazines. Some people would consider these magazines to be vulgar and raw however men still look at these magazines for enjoyment making them a form of art.

Nude figure has been a part of Western traditional art. It has been used, especially in sculptures, drawings and paintings, to depict the beauty of human body, of both male and female. It is the expression of innocence, purity as well as virility. Not only that, nude figure is also the expression of sensuality and sexuality that an artist puts into his works.

Throughout history, the nude body has always been romanticised compared to that of the naked one. Features associated with sexuality and power are emphasised, especially male characteristics. This may be to represent male dominance of the two genders, something often reinforced through the years.

As most of us understand, a large portion of the English speaking countries now claims themselves to be liberate among the public and this could be observed through the legal system they now possess. However, some resident still questions the system by evaluating the level of freedom of their actions. One of the few general hotly debated subjects of freedom is public nudity, where there are residents that totally reject this idea and there are others whom receive this as a part of the freedom of actions. Public nudity to some is how we humans are designed to be, it is the nature, and on the other hand the culture formed upon us believes nudity can be carried out only in private otherwise it is violation. And as more issues regarding public nudity arises from the society this topic is taken into account of the formation of new legislations, this action by the government is to protect the public from potential harm. However, public nudity has not always been a widely discussed topic due to the religious nature these countries started on. The distinctive nature and history of a country will determine the type of legal structure and the legislations that create boundaries in public nudity actions. I have chosen three countries to research on, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada. These are all English speaking countries but they hold relatively different legal structures and legislations on nudity.

In an increasingly religious culture, and with museum audiences with large populations of children, nude artworks continue to be cultural lightning rods, generating controversy-sometimes disliked, feared or misunderstood” (Decker). Altering or covering the sexual parts of the human body are a simple solution that most groups prefer to do. Their need for modesty is very high, but they don’t realize that by censoring art, they are taking a chunk out of the history and true form of it all. Religious groups and other sensitive adults have their reasons to shield their eyes from nudity, but that doesn't mean that the whole world needs to as well. Nude art may be too “inappropriate” for some viewers, but in reality there are other ways to keep people away from it rather than having to physically censor it, “last year I saw an Andy Warhol exhibit at the Portland Museum of Art. There was a room that was restricted for children, the silkscreens showed nudity and gay lifestyles. This is a good way to keep people away who are not comfortable” (Manfre). There’s no other simpler way to do

In my opinion, a statute should honor a person who you would like future generations to look up to, creating inspirations in their own life. The location of the statue is almost as important as the person behind it. With each location, comes a different culture and a different way of thinking. At the university of Ghana, I highly doubt people would want their future grandchildren to looking up to a man who used the word kaffir and