Nudity in art.

A few rather incoherent quotes and thoughts about the book, read whoever you want.

What did I learn from Clark? Any type of nudity was once invented by someone and then directly or indirectly reproduced (from statues, sarcophagi, quotes from other artists, etc.). The Greeks invented the type of Venus (pudik, public, anadiomene ...), maenad, naiad, dying warrior, Marsyas. Europeans are the "northern type". The Greeks have a curve of the hip that lifts upward; in the Gothic style, the curve of the belly, pulling towards the ground.

In this book, I have attempted to show how the nude body has been shaped in memorable ways to convey certain ideas and feelings to us. I believe that this is the main, but not the only reason for the existence of nudity. In all eras, when the body was an object of art, artists felt that it can be clothed in a form that is good in itself. Many went even further, believing that in nudity it is possible to find the optimal common factor of significant form. 394 PP.

Art nudity is an art form invented by the Greeks in the 5th century BC, just like opera is an art form invented in Italy in the 17th century. Nudity is not an object of art, but its form. 11 p.

Along with the poses, which apparently received the status of almost ideograms, in European art there are thousands of nudes who do not express any idea, nothing but the painter's striving for perfection of form. 397 PP.

The idea of ​​bringing the body to the attention of the viewer as such important subject contemplation simply does not occur to a Chinese or Japanese ... 17 pp.

It makes us remember everything that we would like to do with ourselves, and we, first of all, want to be immortalized. 16 p.

One of the few classical canons, in the reliability of which there is no doubt, is that in the figure of a naked woman the distance between the breasts is the same, from the chest to the navel and from the navel to the mid-leg. 29 pages

“Art,” says Aristotle, “completes what nature cannot complete. The artist gives us the opportunity to cognize the unfulfilled goals of nature. "

... everything has an ideal form, and the phenomena of earthly reality are only its more or less corrupted copies. 21 pages

There are two ways to achieve the ideal - the artist can select the perfect parts of several figures and make a perfect whole from them. So, says Pliny, Zeuxis did when he "constructed" his Aphrodite from five beautiful girls of Crotona. 21 pp. But such a construction lacks organicity. Another way is the "middle shape".

What both Reynolds and Blake meant by ideal beauty was in reality a vague memory of a special bodily type created in Greece between 480 and 440 BC and, with varying degrees of intensity and understanding, brought the model of perfection to the consciousness of Western man from the Renaissance. to the present day. 23 pages

At the beginning of the third book of Vitruvius, where a set of rules for the construction of religious buildings is given, he states that these buildings must have the proportions of a person.

... the human body is a model of proportion, because with outstretched arms and with its feet it fits into perfect geometric figures: square and circle.

Leonardo da Vinci. Vitruvius' man c. 1490

Vitruvian Man- a drawing drawn by Leonardo Da Vinci in about 1490-92 as an illustration for a book dedicated to the works of Vitruvius, and placed in one of his journals. It depicts the figure of a naked man in two superimposed positions: with arms and legs spread apart, inscribed in a circle; with arms outstretched and legs brought together, inscribed in a square. The drawing and explanations for it are sometimes called canonical proportions.

The drawing was made with a pen, ink and watercolors using a metal pencil, the dimensions of the drawing are 34.3 × 24.5 centimeters. It is currently in the collection of the Accademia Gallery in Venice.

The drawing is at the same time scientific work and a work of art, it also exemplifies Leonardo's interest in proportion.

According to Leonardo's accompanying notes, it was created to determine the proportions of the (masculine) human body as described in the treatises of the architect Vitruvius, who wrote the following about the human body:

• the length from the tip of the longest to the lowest base of four fingers is equal to the palm
• the foot is four palms
• the elbow is six palms
• the height of a person is four cubits (and, accordingly, 24 palms)
• stride equals four cubits
• the span of human arms is equal to its height
• the distance from the hairline to the chin is 1/10 of its height
• the distance from the crown of the head to the chin is 1/8 of its height
• the distance from the crown to the nipples is 1/4 of its height
• the maximum shoulder width is 1/4 of its height
• the distance from the elbow to the tip of the hand is 1/4 of its height
• the distance from the elbow to the armpit is 1/8 of its height
• arm length is 2/5 of its height
• the distance from the chin to the nose is 1/3 the length of his face
• the distance from the hairline to the eyebrows is 1/3 the length of his face
• ear length 1/3 face length
• the navel is the midpoint of the circle

The rediscovery of the mathematical proportions of the human body in the 15th century by da Vinci and others was one of the great achievements that preceded the Italian Renaissance.

The drawing itself is often used as an implicit symbol of the internal symmetry of the human body, and further, the Universe as a whole.

As you can see by examining the drawing, the combination of the arm and leg positions actually gives two different positions. A pose with arms and legs spread out to the sides turns out to be inscribed in a square. On the other hand, the pose with arms and legs outstretched to the sides is inscribed in a circle. On closer examination, it turns out that the center of the circle is the navel of the figure, and the center of the square is the genitals. Subsequently, using the same technique, Corbusier compiled his own proportioning scale - Modulor, which influenced the aesthetics of 20th century architecture.

Poliziano is the poet who inspired Botticelli's The Birth of Venus and Raphael's Galatea.

In the poem "Stanzas for the Tournament", dedicated to Lorenzo Medici's brother - Giuliano and his beloved Simonetta Vespucci, for which a magnificent tournament was arranged in January 1476, the mythological basis of the work serves the author to create a Renaissance idyll that spiritualizes nature and deifies man. It also artistically embodies the problem of the relationship between valor and Fortune, which is characteristic of humanism. The leading theme of the poem is love, which gives joy and happiness, but also deprives a person inner freedom... The beautiful youth-hunter Julis (Giuliano), in love with a nymph (Simonetta), grieves over the lost freedom; “Where is your freedom, where is your heart? Cupid and the woman took them away from you. " A nymph among beautiful flowers - this image from Poliziano's poem also inspired a number of images in Botticelli's painting, including in his masterpiece “ Spring».

Symmetry, achieved through balancing and compensation, is the essence of classical art. A figure can be in motion, but peace is always concentrated in its center. Balanced parts must have some measurable relationship to each other - a canon of proportions is required. Polycletus composed such a canon. 50.s

Lysippos. Ancient writers inform us that he invented new proportions of the human figure: with a smaller head, more long legs and a more graceful torso. 62 pages

No other civilization has experienced such artistic bankruptcy as the one that for four centuries on the banks Mediterranean Sea enjoyed fabulous wealth. Throughout these blood stained centuries plastic arts fell into hibernation, became something of a bargaining chip. Page 63

How the enjoyment of the human body has become a legitimate art theme again is a wonderful mystery Italian Renaissance... Kenneth Clark. 68 pages

You should fix your gaze on Venus, that is, on Humanitas. Her soul and mind are Love and Mercy, her eyes are Dignity and Magnanimity, her hands are Generosity and Splendor, feet - Cuteness and Modesty.

Marsilio Ficino. Letters to Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco Medici. Kenneth Clark. Nudity in art. 120 pages

Undoubtedly, this is the power of Venus, that her face very restrainedly expresses the work of thought. Kenneth Clark. 123.

... the first Renaissance artist to depict a naked woman as a symbol of reproductive life was Leonardo da Vinci. Between 1504 and 1506, he created at least three drawings of Ice and a Swan, one of which served as the basis for the painting. 142 pages

I like it - reproductive life.

... the female body, in its entirety of its sensuality, is depicted in isolation, as something self-sufficient. This interpretation of nudity, outside the context of some events or environment, is extremely rare before the 19th century, and it would be interesting to know under what circumstances Titian invented this concept. 151.

Venus Anadiomene. OK. 1520.

Aphrodite Anadiomene(ancient Greek Ἀφροδίτη Ἀναδυομένη, "emerging, emerging from the sea") - the epithet of the goddess Aphrodite, born from the sea foam and emerging on land, and the iconographic type of her image at this moment.

Why out of context? Exit from the sea has always served as an excuse to portray nudity, they do not swim in the sea in clothes, especially since they were born.

At the beginning of its development, mannerism began to spread in France. Rosso, Primaticcio, Nicolo del Abbate and Cellini found work in Fonteblo that they could not find in their split country, and, emerging from the restraining influence of the classical tradition, began to create nude figures of fantastically thin and elongated forms. Cellini's "Nymph Fonteblo" is incredibly far from the ancient canons, her legs alone are six heads long. ... Mannerism flourished when transplanted to other soil in part due to latent Gothic tendencies in French art, but also for the reason that even in the Middle Ages, France remained the focus of all the sophisticated and spectacular, meant by the concept of "chic". The ideal of mannerism is eternal femininity from a fashionable picture. 168 pages

... why the personification of grace took on such a strange form: too thin arms and legs, unsuitable for honest work, too thin bodies, not adapted to childbirth, and too small heads, obviously not containing a single thought. But we see the same exquisite sophistication in many other objects to which such materialistic explanations are inapplicable: in architecture, in ceramics, and even in handwriting. The human body is not the source, but the victim of these rhythms. Where does the feeling of chic originate, how is it controlled, by what internal criteria we unmistakably recognize chic ... One thing can be stated with certainty: chic is alien to nature. ... that the true priests of chic are deeply disgusted with everything that is meant by the word "nature". .... The exquisitely refined ladies of Fonteblo, despite their dissimilarity to earthly women, were created with the expectation of arousing carnal desire in the viewer; indeed, the very strangeness of their proportions is more conducive to erotic fantasies than the material bodies of Titian's women.

This is what the essence is - speculation, fantasy, so the zero-size bust of Keira Knightley is among the ten most seductive

But, ultimately, it is this immateriality that turns Northern Mannerism into just a captivating secondary current in the history of European art.

In the process of his research, he (Rubens) realized how severe formal transformations the human body must undergo in order to remain a work of art. 167 pp.

Ingres finally allowed himself to give vent to feelings, and everything that was indirectly expressed by the hand of Tetia or odalisque foot, now (Turkish bath) has found its open embodiment in lush hips, breasts and luxurious voluptuous positions.

Kenneth Clarke Nudity in Art. 186 pages

So, Clarke's odalisque foot expresses sensuality! Here is the same foot:

In my opinion, some kind of expressionless, amorphous. Take a look at my collection, here is where the expressive specimens are carved with a chisel.

Schaeffer, Cabanel, Bouguereau, Enner.

The nude figure, representing a kind of ideal art, is closely connected with the first moment of the concept, with the line ... 195 pp.

... they would probably speak of their creations as skilful images exclusively beautiful people... This is exactly what an artist should say. But in fact, they all tried to create a certain image, born in the imagination from the fusion of memories, needs and beliefs - memories of works of art from previous eras; needs to express their own feelings and beliefs that the female body is a symbol of the harmony of nature. 199 pages

Decorative art is designed to delight the eye, and not occupy our minds, not shake the imagination, it should be perceived unambiguously, like long-established rules of behavior. Therefore, cliches are widely used in it, figures that, regardless of their origin, are reduced to a symbolic equivalent that is understandable for everyone. From this point of view, nudity is an inexhaustible source of decorative material. It pleases the eye, it is symmetrical and has a simple, memorable form, inseparable from the condition of its existence. 326.

Zeus of Histieia. Attic statue. OK. 470 BC

The sculpture was found in the sea near Histieia (at Cape Artemisy). First separately standing figure, transmitted in motion and the only one that has come down to us in the form of a bronze original. 204 pp.

Not a single Renaissance artist ever named a single date correctly, not even the date of his birth. 222 pp.

Nudity in art. Kenneth Clarke

Per. from English - SPb .: Azbuka-classic, 2004 .-- 480 p. (Series "Artist and Connoisseur".)

The new series "The Artist and the Connoisseur" presents the book "Nudity in Art" by the largest English art critic Kenneth Clarke, which has been translated into Russian for the first time. The author acquaints with the development of the nude genre from its origins to the present, revealing in it such specific directions as “nakedness of energy”, “nakedness of pathos”, “nakedness of ecstasy”, etc. An original interpretation of the theme, alive, accessible language, an interesting selection of illustrations should attract the attention of not only specialists, but also a wide range of readers.

Format: pdf

The size: 10.6 MB

Download: yandex.disk

The series "Artist and Connoisseur" presents a number of interesting studies of art history, which, first of all, educational purpose, but at the same time remain strictly academic. Their advantage is accessibility and amusement without deliberate simplification and distortion of scientific thought. It is no coincidence that the books of the English art historian Kenneth Clarke were included in this collection. His brilliant erudition, deep understanding of the subject, faithful criticism and genuine love for art are complemented by respect for his audience. Going from simple to complex, easily, without the slightest violence and the desire to impose his opinion, the professor turns readers from amateurs into connoisseurs and true connoisseurs of beauty. There are few scientists who know how to talk about complex things in a simple, fascinating and elegant way, but Clark wants to read slowly, savoring individual phrases, carefully examining the illustrations he offers. On the pages of his books are scattered charming examples of academic humor, it seems, moved there from the lectures of the professor, with which he spoke not only to students, but also to television viewers in Great Britain and America.

Perhaps the topic of the study will cause frivolous associations in someone, but the book will delight fans of strawberries only beautiful pictures... According to Kenneth Clarke, the depiction of the nude human body is one of the most important and worthy subjects in art, although not all historical eras have paid equal attention to it. It is impossible to deny the bodily nature of a person, and since we are vain and certainly strive to be immortalized, the visual arts are unlikely to ever be completely limited to zigzags and colored spots, symbolizing the work of our subconscious. Of course, the ideal of external beauty was constantly changing, it was influenced by frivolous fashion, religious morality, high philosophical reasoning and aesthetic delights. Clark's book contains a place and Paleolithic Venus, and Greek goddesses; emaciated saints in gothic style and the earthly beauties of Rubens; Renoir's pretty simpletons and Picasso's cubic nude. O male beauty a lot has been said too, good up to mid XIX century there was no explicit discrimination against men as a nude. Closer to our time, the right to demonstrate their charms, unfortunately, has become almost the complete prerogative of women.

In the spring of 1953, I gave six lectures on nudity in art at the annual EW Mellon Memorial Fine Arts Readings at the Washington National Gallery... I have never spoken before a more responsive and intelligent audience in my life, and I would like to present each of those present with a copy of this book as a token of gratitude immediately after completing the course. But the lectures had to be lengthened considerably, three new chapters had to be written, and at the last moment the publishers convinced me to add another section of notes. This meant almost a three-year reprieve, and I am grateful to the Mellon Memorial Readings Foundation and the Bollingen Foundation for their patience as they await the completion of the book..

The beautiful maidens whom you will see in Nîmes will not delight you, I am sure, more than the sight of the beautiful columns of the Maison Carree, for the latter are nothing more than ancient copies of the former.

In the spring of 1953, I gave six lectures on nudity in art at the annual EW Mellon Fine Arts Readings at the National Gallery in Washington. I have never spoken before a more responsive and intelligent audience in my life, and I would like to present each of those present with a copy of this book as a token of gratitude immediately after completing the course.

But the lectures had to be significantly lengthened, three new chapters had to be written, and in last moment the publishers convinced me to add another notes section. This meant almost a three-year reprieve, and I am grateful to the Mellon Memorial Readings Foundation and the Bollingen Foundation for their patience as they await the completion of the book.

Considering that nude dominated the sculpture and painting of two most important eras in their history, it can be assumed that there is a small library on this subject. But in reality there are only two more or less valuable general research: Die Menschliche Gestaltin der Geschichteder Kunst (1903) by Julius Lange and Der nackte Mensch (1913)

Wilhelm Gausenstein, where a very useful material prepared according to the recipe of Marxist cuisine. The reason is, as I soon realized, the topic is extremely complex. On the one hand, the problem of form arises: the chronological overview would be long and overloaded with repetitions, and any other model is not applicable here. On the other hand, there is the problem of competence. Since the time of Jacob Burckhardt, no intelligent art critic has tried to write about both antique and post-medieval art. I admit that writing so many pages on classical sculpture was a rash move for a student of Renaissance painting, but I have no regrets: indeed, I believe they constitute the most useful part of the book. The decline in admiration for antique art in the past fifty years has extremely impoverished our understanding of art as a whole, and specialists in the field of classical archeology, re-examining their poor physical evidence under a microscope, did not help us to comprehend why for four centuries in a row artists and amateurs shed tears of delight in front of works. that don't make us feel anything.

And although I believe that there is no time to try to evaluate again all famous monuments Antiquity was worth undertaking, I dare not say that I did it quite competently. But we must warn the reader: the following pages are about classical art seasoned with a fair amount of heresies, partly deliberately, partly, undoubtedly, out of ignorance. Since the Renaissance, I have been more orthodox, but even here I sometimes had to penetrate the fields of knowledge - Michelangelo, for example, or Rubens - which are marked with the sign "Violation of the border is punishable by law."

Trying to find my way among these dense and intricate objects, I used the generous help of famous scientists and would like to express my gratitude to them.

Professor Ashmole and Monsieur Jean Charbonneau answered my questions about antique art; Professor Johannes Wilde shared with me his incomparable knowledge of the work of Michelangelo; on all issues related to the heritage of the ancient figurative system I received tremendous help from Dr. L. D. Ettlinger of the Warburg Institute. For this last question, I owe a lot to the recently published book Antike und Renaissance by A. von Salis, which came to my attention when I was already working on Nudity, and expanded many of my own conclusions. Ms. Anthony P. Millman helped me a lot in the difficult task of collecting photographs, of which only a quarter fit in the book. Finally, I must acknowledge my special thanks to Miss Caryl Winayray - without her the notes would never have been complete.

The church is to blame

For development visual arts and the processes taking place in it, the dominant ideology exerts a decisive influence. She has been religious for centuries. Moreover, Russia got the most visionary and symbol-focused version of Christianity - Orthodoxy. In the Catholic West, artists were allowed to paint the "materialistic", such as a sleek, vile devil, torture of martyrs with red-hot tongs, the naked chest of the Mother of God, fluffy wings of angels.

Unknown artist. Religious popular print "About the girl Mary and her posthumous appearance to her father." 1904-1905. Gim

In Byzantium everything was about signs and canons, and in her art - about linearity and flatness. Nudity in the iconography taken over from there was allowed either for exceptionally decent people - ascetics-hermits and holy fools (for example, Mary of Egypt and Basil the Blessed), who led such a lifestyle that their body could not serve as an example of physical beauty, or for the dead - a soul leaving mortal flesh, or sinners in hell. Well, also to demons and all kinds of spirits. All these are by no means examples for imitation, such bodies of aesthetic pleasure do not cause.

Geography is to blame

To consider certain things "beautiful" requires a habit, a long training. For example, America believed that a black girl could be a real sex symbol due to the fact that Hollywood was engaged in visual agitation for thirty years (if we count from the 1970s, when the first African American women appeared among Bond girls).

For the naked body in art to become beautiful and universally permissible, it took centuries of eye training.

And also a very powerful indoctrination, during which everyone was inspired that the body is a reflection of divine harmony, therefore it deserves admiration (google "kalokagatiya"). In Europe, this view was established somewhere in the 5th century BC. NS. - v Ancient Greece... Cultures that have nothing to do with antiquity, in the issue of nudity, are complex - take both Muslim and traditional Japanese.

Henryk Semiradsky. "A woman or a vase?" 1887. Sotheby's

The beauty of the female body has been and remains a desirable object for the depiction of artists of all times and peoples.

The most picturesque nudity was given to us, of course, by the Renaissance, when the magnificence of naked bodies was vigorously glorified according to ancient canons. However, the masters of a later time are in no way inferior in a skillful presentation female image... Techniques have changed, the places against which the maidens were depicted, and the muses themselves, over time, began to acquire other features. But the portrayal of female nature is still a special theme that excites the minds of all fans of natural beauty.

Sandro Botticelli

"The Birth of Venus" 1482-1486

Peter Paul Rubens

Rubens was an excellent portrait painter, wrote landscapes and paintings on religious themes, founded the Baroque style, but the general public knows Rubens best of all from images of naked women and men, to put it mildly, not asthenic physique.

"Union of earth and water", 1618

The Three Graces, 1639

Francisco Goya

Maha Nude, circa 1800

Not everyone knows that Macha is not a name at all, but a name for Spanish common townspeople of the 18-19th century.

Maha, whose image took shape in Andalusia, over time began to be perceived as the quintessence of the Spanish woman. Because of romanticism, picturesqueness, strong national accent and violent passion.

Eugene Delacroix

"Freedom Leading the People", 1830

Delacroix created a painting based on the July Revolution of 1830, which put an end to the Restoration regime of the Bourbon monarchy. In a letter to his brother on October 12, 1830, Delacroix writes: "If I did not fight for the Motherland, then at least I will write for it."

Naked breasts in the picture are not for nothing. It symbolizes the dedication of the French people of that time, who with “ bare chest"Went to the enemy.

Jules Joseph Lefebvre

Lefebvre was a French salon painter who specialized in depicting beautiful girls. It is thanks to the image female beauty he rose to prominence as a graceful, albeit somewhat campy, draftsman.

"Mary Magdalene in the grotto", 1836

The painting "Mary Magdalene in the grotto" has its own special story. After the exhibition in 1876, it was bought by Alexander Dumas the son. After his death, she was sent to St. Petersburg for an exhibition in 1896. Nicholas II acquired it for Winter Palace and now "Mary Magdalene" can be seen among the treasures of the Hermitage.

Edouard Manet

At the Paris Salon of 1865, the painting caused one of the most big scandals in the history of art. Contemporaries could not see the volume of the depicted figure and considered the composition of the picture rough and flat. Manet was accused of immorality and vulgarity. The painting attracted hundreds of people who came to the exhibition just to curse the painting and spit on it. As a result, the painting was moved to the farthest hall of the Salon to such a height that it was almost invisible. What people were nervous in those days.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Renoir is known primarily as a master of secular portrait, not devoid of sentimentality; he was the first of the Impressionists to find success with the wealthy Parisians. Nudity was one of Renoir's favorite genres.

"Nude in sunlight", 1876

First shown at the Second Impressionist Exhibition in 1876, where it received very harsh reviews from critics: "Inspire Monsieur Renoir that a woman's body is not a heap of decaying flesh with green and purple spots, which indicate that the corpse is already rotting at full speed!"

Big Bathers, 1887

And this picture marked the transition of Renoir from pure impressionism towards classicism and engrism. "Large Bathers" is made with clearer lines, colder colors, and when writing this picture, Renoir used sketches and sketches for the first time.

Vladislav Podkovinsky

Female Orgasm, 1894

From the title it is clear that in his work he depicted Polish artist Vladislav Podkovinsky ... The painting exhibition began with a huge scandal and lasted for 36 days. Unable to withstand the pressure, on the 37th day Podkovinsky came with a knife and cut the entire canvas. The artist died of tuberculosis at the age of 29. After his death, it was decided to restore the painting.

Adolphe-William Bouguereau

John Collier

The range of themes of paintings by the English painter Collier is very wide. However, it gained the greatest popularity due to its use in true romantic tradition images beautiful women from legends, myths, literature and history as the main theme for his paintings.

Lady Godiva was written based on the story of a legend. The nude beauty depicted in the painting (Lady Godiva) begged her powerful and domineering husband (Count Leofric) to lower taxes for the poor in his domain. On which he offered an almost losing bet. He promised to reduce taxes if his lady drove through the village of Coventry naked on a horse, which his wife did.

Herbert James Draper

Odysseus and the Sirens, 1909

David Shterenberg

"Nude", 1908

Gustav Klimt

All details related to mythological plot, removed from the picture, only the scene of fertilization by the golden rain, into which Zeus turned, is left. The choice of posture and distorted perspective gives Danae's body an extraordinary sexuality.

In no other work did the artist bring female sexuality to such a hypertrophied state - it is self-absorbed lust.

Herbert James Draper

Herbert James Draper was an artist famous works on the historical and mythological themes... Although Draper has gained recognition throughout his life, his work is now unfairly forgotten and rarely seen at auctions.

"Mountain of Mists", 1912

"Mountain of Mists" is one of the most powerful, sensual and enchanting of all the artist's images. The naked girls presented are as beautiful as the nymphs of Waterhouse, although unlike his femme fatale lure men to their doom.

Boris Kustodiev

Painterly plastic, emphasis on the artistry of the model and bright characteristic appearance - these are the main features of the work of Boris Kustodiev.

"Russian Venus" 1925-1926

"Russian Venus" depicts a puffy woman in a bathhouse, but unlike the goddess, the naked girl is not surrounded sea ​​foam, and clubs steam Russian bath. The rainbow bubbles on the wooden bench confirm that Venus is in front of us. The goddess was born from the foam of the Mediterranean Sea! And here, in Russia, from the bath foam ...

Amedeo Modigliani

Modigliani is rightfully considered the singer of the beauty of the naked female body. He was one of the first to depict nude in a more realistic emotional way. It was this circumstance that at one time led to the lightning-fast closure of his first solo exhibition in Paris. Modigliani's nude paintings are considered the pearl of his artistic heritage.

Seated Nude, 1916

Egon Schiele

Egon Schiele's paintings and graphics are nervous, sophisticated, dramatic and very sexy. Strongly influenced by the psychoanalysis of Sigmund Freud, Schiele in his work gave free rein to his own complexes and doubts, and many of his works were of an openly sexual nature. This even served as the reason for the artist's imprisonment for "creating immoral drawings."

Nude on her knees, 1917

Lying Woman, 1917

Anders Zorn

Swedish painter and graphic artist, who paid special attention to the individuality of the nude model, the originality of her facial expressions, gestures, facial expressions, which are sharply captured in his works.

"In Werner's rowing boat", 1917

Reflections, 1889

Zinaida Serebryakova

Zinaida Evgenievna Serebryakova is one of the first Russian women who entered the history of painting. By means of painting, the artist represented the image of a pure female body. Her models did not have a sporty physique, they do not have rigidity, harshness, but only a smooth consonance with the environment.

In "Bath" Serebryakova portrayed naked women without embellishment, traits of idealization appeared in her work later.

"Lying Nude", portrait of Nevedomskaya, 1935

V late creativity Serebryakova's subject of works depicting nude models grew more and more, and Serebryakova remained faithful to the nude genre. In Lying Nude, she feels that she is succeeding in this topic, and turns to her constantly.

"Sleeping Model", 1941

Igor Emmanuilovich Grabar

Igor Emmanuilovich Grabar is one of the most famous artists in the history of Russian culture of the XX century. One of his most famous works is the portrait of Flora.

Alexander Mikhailovich Gerasimov

Another well-known Russian artist, who, unlike the previous one, was engaged in the depiction of crude and simplified eroticism.

"Country Bath", 1938

On the theme of the "Village Bath" the artist wrote many sketches "for himself" over the years. Several naked in the picture female bodies connected by a complex structural composition. Each figure is an image, an individual character.

Arkady Alexandrovich Plastov

Arkady Plastov is the "singer of the Soviet peasantry." In his works, he paid special attention to the patriotic labor of women during the Great Patriotic War... The artist captured the colorful image and simplicity in the painting "Tractor Drivers"

"Tractor drivers", 1943