Human body
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Etude -nu
Frédérique Maillart
Fine Art Drawings - 30 x 20 x 0.02 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11.8 x 7.9 x 0 inch
$339
Arabesque
Frédérique Maillart
Fine Art Drawings - 30 x 50 x 0.2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11.8 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
$385
Le Collectionneur
Michael Bastow
Fine Art Drawings - 144 x 55 cm Fine Art Drawings - 56.7 x 21.7 inch
$6,220
Meanwhile in Paris
Michael Bastow
Fine Art Drawings - 55 x 144 cm Fine Art Drawings - 21.7 x 56.7 inch
$6,220
Freedom to create new body
Zhengyong Liu
Painting - 180 x 160 x 5 cm Painting - 70.9 x 63 x 2 inch
$14,702
Nu jaune à la coiffure
Stephanie Larène
Painting - 23 x 30 x 1 cm Painting - 9.1 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
$396
Assis orthogonal bleu
Stephanie Larène
Painting - 50 x 40 x 1 cm Painting - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$441
Lac des Cerces, Hautes-Alpes, de la série Sur les chemins du Briançonnais
José Nicolas
Photography - 36 x 36 x 0.1 cm Photography - 14.2 x 14.2 x 0 inch
$565
La beauté vétue d’espace
Danielle Balagé
Painting - 100 x 73 x 2 cm Painting - 39.4 x 28.7 x 0.8 inch
$7,803
On the beach 3
HowardArthur Tweedie
Painting - 61 x 91 x 3 cm Painting - 24 x 35.8 x 1.2 inch
$3,845
Théa sur cube 2
Sylvie Bourely
Sculpture - 44 x 41 x 12 cm Sculpture - 17.3 x 16.1 x 4.7 inch
$3,166
É verdade que vimos coisas terríveis I
Pedro França
Painting - 110 x 120 x 7 cm Painting - 43.3 x 47.2 x 2.8 inch
$7,916
Nenhum, nenhum, cem mil I
Pedro França
Painting - 220 x 250 x 7 cm Painting - 86.6 x 98.4 x 2.8 inch
$13,005
Smiling Boy
Anthony Roaland
Fine Art Drawings - 41.5 x 30 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 16.3 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$441
Smiling Boy
Anthony Roaland
Fine Art Drawings - 41.5 x 30 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 16.3 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$430
Blackest magic at work
Laurent Anastay-Ponsolle
Painting - 76 x 56 x 0.1 cm Painting - 29.9 x 22 x 0 inch
$1,301
La lutte
Laurent Anastay-Ponsolle
Fine Art Drawings - 59 x 42 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 23.2 x 16.5 x 0 inch
$735
Her ghost in the fog
Laurent Anastay-Ponsolle
Fine Art Drawings - 59 x 42 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 23.2 x 16.5 x 0 inch
$735
Nude natural light source
Amy Benedict
Painting - 70 x 50 x 3 cm Painting - 27.6 x 19.7 x 1.2 inch
$4,863
Austin Percario
Noa Grayevsky
Photography - 45.72 x 60.69 x 0.5 cm Photography - 18 x 23.9 x 0.2 inch
$1,696
Naphta tribes VIII
Fab Rideti
Photography - 120 x 80 x 1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0.4 inch
$3,280
Naphta tribes VIII
Fab Rideti
Photography - 120 x 80 x 1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 31.5 x 0.4 inch
$3,280
Couple Nuit
Laurent Anastay-Ponsolle
Fine Art Drawings - 59 x 42 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 23.2 x 16.5 x 0 inch
$735
Oinochoe Plate for Martini & Rossi
Piero Fornasetti
Design - 23.5 x 23.5 x 4 cm Design - 9.3 x 9.3 x 1.6 inch
$396
Étreinte Sanguine
Laurent Anastay-Ponsolle
Fine Art Drawings - 70 x 50 x 0.5 cm Fine Art Drawings - 27.6 x 19.7 x 0.2 inch
$848
IL est mien #1
Laurent Anastay-Ponsolle
Fine Art Drawings - 70 x 50 x 0.5 cm Fine Art Drawings - 27.6 x 19.7 x 0.2 inch
$848
Alexandra
Andreas Sundgren
Photography - 105 x 140 x 0.1 cm Photography - 41.3 x 55.1 x 0 inch
$3,441
The Artist
Andreas Sundgren
Photography - 140 x 105 x 0.1 cm Photography - 55.1 x 41.3 x 0 inch
$3,441
Supplique du séant n°3
Manon Deck-Sablon
Photography - 40 x 60 x 0.1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 23.6 x 0 inch
$509
Catharsis n°2
Manon Deck-Sablon
Photography - 30 x 20 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 7.9 x 0 inch
$170
Extraction n°1
Manon Deck-Sablon
Photography - 30 x 20 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 7.9 x 0 inch
$170
Les boules sablé.e.s n°2
Manon Deck-Sablon
Photography - 30 x 20 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 7.9 x 0 inch
$254
Les boules sablé.e.s n°1
Manon Deck-Sablon
Photography - 30 x 20 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 7.9 x 0 inch
$254
Le Petit Poucet
Manon Deck-Sablon
Photography - 30 x 20 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 7.9 x 0 inch
$170
Supplique du séant n°3
Manon Deck-Sablon
Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 7.9 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$170
Supplique du séant n°2
Manon Deck-Sablon
Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 7.9 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$170
Supplique du séant n°1
Manon Deck-Sablon
Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 7.9 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$170
Variations sur béton n°6
Manon Deck-Sablon
Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 cm Photography - 7.9 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$170
Mes deux merveilles
Emilie Teillaud
Painting - 29.6 x 21 x 0.2 cm Painting - 11.7 x 8.3 x 0.1 inch
$509
Syrinx et Pan
ADrÉ
Fine Art Drawings - 40 x 30 x 0.5 cm Fine Art Drawings - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.2 inch
$441
Oedipe et le Sphinx
ADrÉ
Fine Art Drawings - 40 x 30 x 0.5 cm Fine Art Drawings - 15.7 x 11.8 x 0.2 inch
$441
Pieles 05
Ivanna Alejandra Sanchez Moretti
Photography - 40 x 30 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 inch
$452
Desvelando Gaudí 018
Ivanna Alejandra Sanchez Moretti
Photography - 40 x 30 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 inch
$452
Desvelando Gaudí 02
Ivanna Alejandra Sanchez Moretti
Photography - 40 x 30 cm Photography - 15.7 x 11.8 inch
$452
Human body
'I wanted to conquer the world. But I also desperately wanted to understand human nature, and to know what was inside our bodies. To do this, I have spent whole night dissecting bodies, against the direct orders of the Pope. Nothing disgusts me. What I am looking for, truly, in all of my work and particularly in my painting, what I have looked for all my life, is to understand the mystery that is human nature' – from the notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci in the 16th century.
At the time of writing these notes, da Vinci had already made greater understanding of the human body the primary objective of his investigations. Dissection and study were key to his development of a holistic knowledge of anatomy, which da Vinci believed was vital to the perfect rendering of the nude figures which he painted and drew.
Little by little, the traditional image of the human figure was uprooted and in its place new ways of interpreting the body developed. Contemporary artists relentlessly questioned the traditional codes of figure drawing, liberally reworking the representation of the body to create a new image that was dislocated, geometric, deformed and disfigured.
The body as an artistic subject is at once desired, fantasised, dreamt, transformed, deformed. For painters, photographers and sculptors alike the body represents a rite of passage in their artistic development. Many people say that they most appreciate the talents of an artists by way of their control over the complexity of the figure. For example, it's clear even in Matisse's later, more abstract collages that he had perfectly mastered the human form.
Representation of the body is fundamental to Western art: first and foremost because it suggests a representation of the self, and therefore affirms the artist's own existence and coexistence with the environment that surrounds them. At the beginning of art history, the only bodies represented were the gods, supernatural beings, and spirits who had taken on human form. The body, nude or clothed, is at once one of the most widely depicted and most deeply polemical subjects in Western art (think of the scandals provoked by Courbet's 'Origins of the World', or Renoir's 'Picnic on the Grass').
The body has always been the primary subject of an array of themes, and its history is rich and ancient. Initially, depiction of the body was closely linked to religion, where the Word became flesh in Genesis, but later in more secular times the arousal of the artist when faced with the body made for an equally popular theme. Latterly the notion of the body as an object of beauty was subverted by Cubism until depictions of bodies no longer bore any resemblance to reality or made any pretence of respecting the rules of proportion.
Finally, in modern art the body has taken on an abstract shape within space, becoming one with the environment. In some instances, the body has become the artist's own support, as with Klein's models. The body as an abstract concept is tangible in many different manifestations in art, even in pieces as unassuming as some of Rothko's paintings. It remains the subject of inexhaustible inspiration and eternal debate.