For this research point I was asked to reflect and analyse how the depiction of the male and female nude has changed over the centuries.
I started off this research by watching John Bergers ‘Ways of Seeing’ (a 1970s BBC series available on you tube.)
Episode 2 focuses on the nude in European art.
I jotted notes down as I watched this episode of things that were said and my own thoughts on these comments.
Berger begins his episode by saying that ‘Men dream of woman whereas women dream of themselves being looked at.’ He then went on to say ‘how a woman appears to others and particularly to men is enormous importance to the success of her life. From earliest childhood she is taught to survey herself continuously, be it sitting in a crowded room or grieving the loss of her father.’
I found these remarks in the first few minutes of this episode quite triggering, it made me angry that a man was suggesting that even when a woman was going through the extreme emotional turmoil of loosing a parent, in the back of her mind she was still conscious of how she may appear, in particular how she may appear to a man?
I wondered how comments like these may be presented 50 years later in today’s society? And how dangerous these thoughts can be for the equality of women?
As the episode progresses Berger
States that ‘To be naked is to be oneself, to be nude is to be seen naked by others and yet not recognised as oneself, a nude has to be seen as an object in order to be a nude.’
I found this really interesting, and it made me really start to think about the difference between the naked body and the ‘Nude’ that is portrayed in art.
One of the paintings Berger discussed was Edouard Manets picnic in the grass.
This is a very famous oil painting that depicts a nude woman sitting in the grass next to two fully clothed men.
Below I have jotted down some of the things that were said in relation to this painting and the numerous other paintings that were looked at in the episode that stood out to me as important or interesting.
- nakedness is a sight for those who are dressed.
- In European painting the nude implies an awareness of being seen by the spectator. They are not naked as they are, they are naked as you see them.
- Men looking at women judging them.
- To be naked is without disguise, to be on display is to be turned into a disguise.
- Most nudes in oil paintings have been lined up for the pleasure of their male spectator owner.
- In oil paintings the second person that matters is the spectator viewing the picture.
- Sometimes the paintings include a Male lover but the woman’s attention is rarely focussed towards him instead it is looking towards the spectator.
- The women portrayed are there to feed an appetite- not to have any of their own.
I found all of these points very interesting but rather than thinking about how the nude has been portrayed in art throughout history my thoughts drifted towards how woman have been portrayed? It feels like rather than a person of importance, the woman has been portrayed as nothing but an object of desire for her male spectators? It has made me question how different the portrayal of women in these painting are to women in modern day ‘lads magazines’ or even pornography magazines?
Towards the end of the episode Berger interviews a group of women on their opinions on the theories presented in the program.
One of the women questioned the idealised unrealistic portrayal of these women that were being displayed, saying that she found it impossible to relate to these women who were showing very unrealistic features of beauty. These comments again made me think of the way social media today can be known for portraying unachievable standards of beauty amongst women? It made me question how far society has actually come in the portrayal of women in popular culture?
Another point I was interested in that was made by one of these women was the fact that women were always dressed in a uniform, the mother’s uniform, the workers uniform, the party girls uniform, and was nudity just a uniform also? Was it a uniform for sexuality?
I feel that this same point can also be applied to males? This point to me doesn’t feel as though it is gender specific? I didn’t ever think about nudity as a uniform before but I found this a very interesting point.
To summarise this episode I have been left questioning the objectification of women throughout history rather than the role of the nude itself? I am also left comparing the way that women can still be objectified in the media today and I’m left wondering how much has actually changed in the way women are presented or represented in art since the advent of feminism?
After watching this series I was interested in how the male nude was portrayed in art? This is something that had not been discussed so I did my own research.
I found the Male nude to be much less common in mainstream art and those I did find were painted as active and strong, wholly important and dominant and their nude body’s just emphasised their power by their powerful stances. See some examples below,
Schelling. C. (2020) A hunky history: the male nude in art. At: https://blog.bridgemanimages.com/a-hunky-history-the-male-nude-in-art/ (Accessed 05/06/2020)
The way these male nudes are displayed appear to be the complete opposite to how the submissive female nudes were portrayed in Bergers television series. The female nude being presented as nothing more than an object entirely for the Male spectators pleasure. Whereas the Male nude is representing power, strength and importance.
I decided to look at how both male & female nudes are represented in more contemporary art today? To see if these very stereotypical notions of the female nude have been challenged at all by artists of this generation?
I found there are many working artists today who are challenging these the notions.
The first Artist I wanted to look at was Frida Kahlo, and although she is not a contemporary artist working today, I found her work does completely quash these stereotypes of the female nude being nothing more than an object to be admired by the Male spectator.
Frida Kahlo is known for her deeply personal self-portraits, who often portrayed her own life experiences onto these portraits. I feel like her work is extremely progressive for the time in that she focussed on her own pains and emotions and passions as a woman rather than simply portraying herself as an object to be viewed.
The nude portrait I was particularly drawn to was ‘Henry Ford Hospital 1932’
Frida Kahlo. (2020) Henry Ford Hospital. At: https://www.fridakahlo.org/henry-ford-hospital.jsp (Accessed 05/06/2020.)
This nude portrait to me couldn’t be further from the paintings Berger looked at of the submissive nude women on display solely for the pleasure of their Male spectators.
This work is deeply personal and very uncomfortable to look at. Frida Khalo captures herself at probably the most emotional and painful time of her life when experiencing the utter horror of a miscarriage. It is raw and heart wrenching and shows the female body for exactly what it is- amazing and terrible and deeply complex.
This painting to me is at the heart of showing what the female body is all about.
The next artist I looked at was Eileen cooper. (Contemporary artist born in 1953.)
I was instantly attracted to her work as I felt like she portrays women for who they are and captures the nature of the female body and it’s physical capability’s. She appears to create art that gets to the heart of the physical experience of being a woman rather than how a woman can be presented to a male for his enjoyment.
Below are some examples of her work:
These first images show the female body as a mother.
These next images show the female nude and the male nude. Their nakedness appears to be a celebration of active sexuality between two people. Rather than the woman playing a submissive figure, the woman is active and is owning her own sexuality.
These images show the female nude as an emotional being, here Eileen Cooper has portrayed real emotion from the entireties of these nudes.
These nudes show the female body as strong and powerful and emphasises how their owners have full ownership over their bodies.
These images portray the male nude, but unlike the male nudes I looked at earlier these men appear to be dominated by the women in these pieces.
Eileen Cooper. (2020) In the studio with Eileen Cooper. At: https://www.eileencooper.co.uk/ (Accessed 05/06/2020)
I then decided to look at Lucien Freud. I chose to look at Freud because his exploration of the nude, in particular the male nude is very different to the nude stereo types I have looked at previously.
Below are two examples of his work:
Schelling. C. (2020) A hunky history: the male nude in art. At: https://blog.bridgemanimages.com/a-hunky-history-the-male-nude-in-art/ (Accessed 05/06/2020)
I love Freud’s nudes, I feel like his work is almost too real and almost too difficult to look at. His focus on the detail and texture of the flesh makes me feel like I am intruding upon someone’s personal and private space & seeing something I shouldn’t. These male nudes seem to be in complete contrast to the male nudes I looked at previously, they are not trying to show power or strength or dominance. They are real and fleshy and show vulnerabilities and imperfections.
In summary the portrayal of the ‘nude’ throughout history is extremely broad. In my research I have just touched upon a very small number of artists portrayals. I have found this subject fascinating, however I think it would be very naive of me to summarise my findings at this stage. In my experience one artist may express a view point or a portrayal, however you are almost certain to find another artist with an opposing viewpoint or portrayal. This is certainly a subject I intend to explore further.
Bibliography:
Frida Kahlo. (2020) Henry Ford Hospital. At: https://www.fridakahlo.org/henry-ford-hospital.jsp (Accessed 05/06/2020.)
Schelling. C. (2020) A hunky history: the male nude in art. At: https://blog.bridgemanimages.com/a-hunky-history-the-male-nude-in-art/ (Accessed 05/06/2020)
Eileen Cooper. (2020) In the studio with Eileen Cooper. At: https://www.eileencooper.co.uk/ (Accessed 05/06/2020)
Caitriona 