"Josie's Back" pastel painting by Christopher Reid[/caption]I participate in many art competitions and exhibitions and am always curious about their selection process. Last fall I was preparing to enter an exhibition when I realized I wouldn't be able to get the paintings to the venue in time for the jury selection. I called the event coordinator to ask if I could send photos by email instead. She said that would be no problem. As an aside, she added that the jury's main purpose was "to make sure that nothing offensive, such as nudes, is admitted into the show." I bit my tongue and submitted the paintings I had already planned on entering. But I have remained troubled by that comment.
What is wrong with nudes?
Seriously. I have heard the no nudes sentiment expressed in online competitions too, so it can't just be a local bias. My mom gets a kick out of showing her friends my landscape paintings and adding, "he paints naked people too", with a smirk. It's as if she were pointing out a flaw. We all have bodies. Why is the human body still taboo in modern society? Are we still that primitive? Has our society gone back to the mores of the Puritans?
Nude vs. Naked
In art, "nude" is used as a noun describing a painting of the human body. It is neither vulgar nor pornographic. "Naked" refers to something uncovered. I think it is important to note the emphasis in nude is on the beauty of the figure and the emphasis in naked is on the lack of clothes. This may seem a trivial difference, but it is huge to artists.
John Singer Sargeant's "Madame X" and Edouard Manet's "Luncheon On The Grass" both caused huge scandals at the Salon De Prix in Paris when they were unveiled. What caused the uproar was that they were not nudes, but had enough clothes in the scenes to make them naked. Madame X only had one strap of her dress hanging down! There were scenes depicting the rape of the Sabine women and bachinalian orgies hanging in the same exhibitions. Apparently it was the context of the figures that mattered most.
Luncheon on the Grass ("Dejeuner sur l'Herbe," 1863) Edouard Manet[/caption]
History of the nude in art.
The nude has been part of art throughout history. Early Greek mosaics, sculptures, and vases depict scenes that would appear shocking even to modern eyes. In many paintings, nudity is used as a metaphor for freedom from oppression. During the Renaissance nudity was used to show a purer life from a better era. I challenge you to name a famous painter before 1900 that did not paint nudes. The human figure is a part of fine art. For most of history more nudes were painted than portraits and landscapes were not even considered acceptable subjects for art until relatively recently.
Visual art is a mirror...
We bring our own biases to our experience of art. How we react to art works in much the same way as a rorschach test reveals something about our psyche. You may see something vulgar in the ink blots above, but that does not make it vulgar. It could mean that you have a tendency to find the vulgar in random shapes.
I once painted an infant on a respirator. A viewer got furious and demanded it be taken down. He had lost a child and my heart sympathizes with him deeply. However, my intention had been to show hope. The title was "Premature Hope" and the baby in the painting had survived against the odds and is now doing quite well. I found the story inspiring and wanted to capture that. Was the painting offensive or inspirational? I guess it is up to the viewer.
If you see a nude as being vulgar, perhaps you should examine why you feel that way. The human body features variations of subtle curves and lines that have fascinated artists for centuries. It is nothing that will harm our eyes.
Carpet-lined shoes
A Buddhist proverb tells of a princess that asked her vizier to go out and carpet the whole land so that everywhere she walked she would feel soft carpet. He replied that he would make her a pair of carpet lined shoes instead. Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder and if you don't like what you see, look away. There are going to be things in life that you don't like. It is easier to change how you react than to attempt to change the whole world. Don't force your views and opinions on everyone else.
"Kyle's Back" pastel painting by Christopher Reid[/caption]
