Human body
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Couple de grue cendré. Parc de Tarangire. Tanzanie
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 90 x 70 x 2 cm Photography - 35.4 x 27.6 x 0.8 inch
£719
Soleil, graine et reine des prés
Marie Labat
Fine Art Drawings - 60 x 40 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0 inch
£431
Linge volant et arum
Marie Labat
Fine Art Drawings - 60 x 40 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0 inch
£431
Buffle sous le pont d'Agra, Taj Mahal. Inde
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 70 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
£1,258
Repos du Zèbre. Parc de Tarangire. Tanzanie
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 70 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
£719
Le réconfort 5
LN Le Cheviller
Fine Art Drawings - 100 x 50 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 39.4 x 19.7 x 0 inch
£620
L'érosion des Chimères
Laurent Anastay-Ponsolle
Painting - 24 x 36 x 2 cm Painting - 9.4 x 14.2 x 0.8 inch
£988
Cœur Noir & Lumière Rouge
Laurent Anastay-Ponsolle
Painting - 27 x 38 x 3 cm Painting - 10.6 x 15 x 1.2 inch
£1,078
Caresse bleu cadium
Laurent Anastay-Ponsolle
Painting - 22 x 32 x 2 cm Painting - 8.7 x 12.6 x 0.8 inch
£854
Le réconfort 2
LN Le Cheviller
Fine Art Drawings - 100 x 50 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 39.4 x 19.7 x 0 inch
£620
Anatomie 15
LN Le Cheviller
Fine Art Drawings - 70 x 100 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 27.6 x 39.4 x 0 inch
£719
Personnage
Pascal Marlin
Fine Art Drawings - 41 x 32 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 16.1 x 12.6 x 0 inch
£270
Ne faire plus qu'un #2
Laurent Anastay-Ponsolle
Painting - 50 x 65 x 0.1 cm Painting - 19.7 x 25.6 x 0 inch
£764
Chuter, se battre, recommencer
Laurent Anastay-Ponsolle
Painting - 60 x 92 x 3 cm Painting - 23.6 x 36.2 x 1.2 inch
£2,022
Illusion
Laurent Anastay-Ponsolle
Painting - 65 x 91 x 3 cm Painting - 25.6 x 35.8 x 1.2 inch
£2,022
Homme dans fauteuil
Pascal Marlin
Painting - 122 x 107 x 3 cm Painting - 48 x 42.1 x 1.2 inch
£2,696
Untitled
Alexandre Taillandier
Fine Art Drawings - 20 x 20 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 7.9 x 7.9 x 0.4 inch
£252
Figure summary 1978 DESTOCKAGE The image expresses itself!!
Paolo Ambrosio
Fine Art Drawings - 50 x 35 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 19.7 x 13.8 x 0 inch
£45
Sans titre nº1
Julien Monteiro
Photography - 60 x 90 x 0.2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 0.1 inch
£304
Sans Titre (dessin)
Antoine Marquis
Fine Art Drawings - 73 x 49.5 x 0.2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 28.7 x 19.5 x 0.1 inch
£2,606
Sans titre nº4
Julien Monteiro
Photography - 60 x 90 x 0.2 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 0.1 inch
£297
Porter un seau à deux mains
Marie Labat
Design - 90 x 90 x 0.1 cm Design - 35.4 x 35.4 x 0 inch
£261
Les bras chargés et oseille des prés
Marie Labat
Fine Art Drawings - 60 x 40 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0 inch
£431
TRITIUM 21
Yannick Bouillault
Sculpture - 49 x 26 x 26 cm Sculpture - 19.3 x 10.2 x 10.2 inch
£1,078
Femme Hamer et son enfant. Ethiopie
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 70 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
£1,258
Sadhus sur les ghats de Bénarès. Inde
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 70 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
£899
Indiens Sioux. Pow Wow
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 70 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
£1,168
Invocation
Laurent Anastay-Ponsolle
Painting - 100 x 73 x 3 cm Painting - 39.4 x 28.7 x 1.2 inch
£2,246
Genetic manipulation
Hildegarde Handsaeme
Painting - 70 x 180 x 2 cm Painting - 27.6 x 70.9 x 0.8 inch
£2,157
Paleolithic Bronze Figurine
Ohad Ben-Ayala
Sculpture - 23 x 10 x 6 cm Sculpture - 9.1 x 3.9 x 2.4 inch
£2,202
Someone from Crazy Horse Painting
Kristina Malashchenko
Painting - 70 x 60 x 1 cm Painting - 27.6 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
£1,662
Enfant revenant des champs. Ethiopie
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 70 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
£1,258
Huile et Rouille
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 70 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
£1,258
Relax pour les zèbres de Tanzanie
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 70 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
£1,168
Ourson brun. Quelle chaleur. Canada
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 70 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
£1,168
Droit dans mes bottes. Inde
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 70 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
£1,168
Œil d'éléphant. Inde du nord
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 70 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
£1,168
Une bonne sieste. Lémuriens
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 90 x 70 x 2 cm Photography - 35.4 x 27.6 x 0.8 inch
£1,168
Perroquet Ara. Pantanal. Brésil
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 70 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
£1,168
Paon à la chasse. Inde
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 70 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
£1,168
Fin de journée sur les ballons
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 70 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
£1,258
Aube et envol de Montgolfières
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 70 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
£1,258
Envol de Montgolfières
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 70 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
£1,258
Jeune fille revenant du champs. Ethiopie
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 70 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
£1,168
Indiens de la Vallée de L'Omo. Dassanech. Ethiopie
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 70 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
£1,168
Regard de buffle. Tanzanie
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 70 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
£719
L'heure de la sieste. Ourson Brun. Canada.
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 70 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
£719
Guépard Protecteur. Parc de Tarangire. Tanzanie
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 90 x 70 x 2 cm Photography - 35.4 x 27.6 x 0.8 inch
£719
Mère et fils. Singe. Inde du nord.
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 90 x 70 x 2 cm Photography - 35.4 x 27.6 x 0.8 inch
£719
Troupeau de Zèbres dans le parc de Tarangire. Tanzanie
Dominique Leroy
Photography - 70 x 90 x 2 cm Photography - 27.6 x 35.4 x 0.8 inch
£719
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.