On Nudity and Sex in Art

(Follow source link at the bottom for painting examples)
·      The nude is a “term used to describe the depiction of a naked human figure in works of art”
·      The nude figure can be found throughout the history of art.  Some of the earliest nude figures can be found on Greek geometric pottery dating back to the 8th century BCE.  During this period the number of images of male nudes greatly exceeded the amount of images of female nudes.
·      In Greek art in the middle of the 7th century BCE, the first realistic statues of the male nude appeared known as the Kouros
·      In the Classical period Greek sculptors had studied and become masters of human anatomy.  The artists of this period began to idealize the human form.  The idealization of the human form can be seen in the nude female statue of Aphrodite of Knidos.
Aphrodite of Knidos, c. 360-340 BCE, marble.
·      In the middle Ages the nude figure takes on a much different meaning than it previously had in art.  The nude figure was an image that was rarely used by artists of this period.  When a nude figure or figures were present in art, they were usually used as representatives of sin.
·      The nude figure returns to art as a popular subject in the Renaissance period.  The nude figure however is used by artists in Renaissance Italy much differently than by the Renaissance artists of Northern Europe.
·      The Baroque period presents nudity in a much more sensual way.  The nudes appear to be much more naturalistic, these artists were looking back to antiquity and the idea of perfecting the human body.
·      In the 19th and 20th century the classical depiction of the nude was challenged by artists working in the modern period (1800 to present).
·      Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytical discoveries in the 20th century had a major effect on art and how nudity in art was interpreted.

·      Erotic art can be defined as, “art with a sexual content, and especially to art that celebrates human sexuality.”  The imagery can be “either explicitly or implicitly sexual.”
·      Pornography as defined by Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, means:  1.  the depiction of erotic behavior (as in pictures or writing) intended to cause sexual excitement .  2. material (as books or a photograph) that depicts erotic behavior and is intended to cause sexual excitement.  3. the depiction of acts in a sensational manner so as to arouse a quick intense emotional reaction <the pornography of violence>.
·      In the Paleolithic period c. 30,000 and 10, 000 BCE the earliest erotic images can be found.  An example of this early erotic artwork is the Venus of Willendorf, found in Austia.
·      From the Neolithic period (c. 9000-7000 BCE) a number of erotic images have been discovered.  These images and small sculptures are primarily related to fertility and the fertility cults.
·      From the 1st century BCE, the wall paintings at Pompeii contain numerous images of erotic art.
·      In Classical Greek and Roman art erotic images were frequently used, many of which portrayed love stories of their gods.
·      In the Renaissance period a majority of the art produced was of religious subject matter.  The artists in this period however did use erotic tones in the religious stories of both the Old and New Testament.
·      Renaissance artists also created erotic art, by using characters from Greek mythology as subjects in their works.[ix]  The painting La Primavera by Sandro Botticelli (1477-78 Panel, 315 x 205 cm Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence) [...] is an excellent example of an erotic mythological subject.
·      The subject of the erotic continued to flourish in art throughout the 16th to 18th century.   The subject matter for which erotic tones were used for stayed fairly consistent during this long period.
·      In the 18th century the French Court encouraged artists to create works dealing with love and sexual pleasures.  Some of the French artists stayed with the traditional portrayal of eroticism through mythological and religious subject matter.  Other artists created a new way to portray eroticism through art by using aspects of French court life or the implication of love making as their subject matter.
·      In the 19th century artists took the subject of the erotic further, by depicting prostitutes, brothels, and lesbians in their artwork.  Images of this type were considered highly inappropriate and were rejected by the Salons.
·      In the 20th century the Surrealist group was greatly “inspired by Freud’s argument that sexuality lay at the root of all creativity.”  The Surrealists created erotic art that “has a ompulsive intensity that can have a deep effect on the viewer, communicating often on a direct subconscious level.” An example of a form of eroticism used by a Surrealist artist can be seen below in the painting Young Virgin Autosodomized by her own Chastity, by Salvador Dali (1934).
·      In the 20th century to present the 21st century a photographer from Virginia named Sally Mann has been dealing with the controversies surrounding the subject matter of many of her photographs.  The pictures Mann has taken of her children growing up capturing their innocence, have been claimed to be too sexual, pornographic, and erotic.

http://www.students.sbc.edu/albanis03/psensem.htm