Human body
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A body with yellow hood
NengZhi Zhao
Painting - 116 x 85 x 0.2 cm Painting - 45.7 x 33.5 x 0.1 inch
£5,676
Le traversée des mariés du coeur
Rachel Daireaux
Painting - 115 x 146 x 5 cm Painting - 45.3 x 57.5 x 2 inch
£5,806
Kouros Action Vérité
Philippe Buil
Sculpture - 55 x 45 x 18 cm Sculpture - 21.7 x 17.7 x 7.1 inch
£2,188
Kouros Ceylan 81-14
Philippe Buil
Sculpture - 57 x 45 x 18 cm Sculpture - 22.4 x 17.7 x 7.1 inch
£2,188
Belisama Rouge Carmin 42-19
Philippe Buil
Sculpture - 48 x 42 x 13 cm Sculpture - 18.9 x 16.5 x 5.1 inch
£2,680
Kouros - Vision de Cocagne
Philippe Buil
Sculpture - 58 x 40 x 23 cm Sculpture - 22.8 x 15.7 x 9.1 inch
£2,188
Belisama Bleu mer 19-41
Philippe Buil
Sculpture - 46 x 40 x 12 cm Sculpture - 18.1 x 15.7 x 4.7 inch
£2,680
Luxe, calme et volupté
Catherine Clare
Painting - 60 x 81 x 2.5 cm Painting - 23.6 x 31.9 x 1 inch
£1,518
Seduction, the girl and the peacock
Catherine Clare
Painting - 60 x 73 x 2.5 cm Painting - 23.6 x 28.7 x 1 inch
£1,697
Kouros - Et le rideau se lève
Philippe Buil
Sculpture - 102 x 57 x 19 cm Sculpture - 40.2 x 22.4 x 7.5 inch
£3,573
Nu Marie
Aurélie Trabaud
Fine Art Drawings - 30 x 40 x 0.2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.1 inch
£107
Méli
Dominique Payen
Fine Art Drawings - 45 x 30 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 17.7 x 11.8 x 0.4 inch
£313
Waiting for no one
Isabelle Hirtzig
Painting - 65 x 50 x 0.1 cm Painting - 25.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
£165
Venus au email sang de Boeuf
Bernard Terreaux
Sculpture - 26 x 8 x 6 cm Sculpture - 10.2 x 3.1 x 2.4 inch
£357
Figure Sketch No. 10
Elizabeth Becker
Fine Art Drawings - 38.7 x 50.2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 15.25 x 19.75 inch
£207
Figure Sketch No. 9
Elizabeth Becker
Fine Art Drawings - 38.7 x 50.2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 15.25 x 19.75 inch
£207
Les trois grâces
Alexandre Moore Rockefeller
Painting - 120 x 120 x 0.6 cm Painting - 47.2 x 47.2 x 0.2 inch
£6,253
Le philosophe
Alain Quercia
Sculpture - 138 x 44 x 40 cm Sculpture - 54.3 x 17.3 x 15.7 inch
£12,416
L'Encre dans la Peau
Charly Desoubry
Photography - 100 x 75 x 1 cm Photography - 39.4 x 29.5 x 0.4 inch
£849
Ladance
Hildegarde Handsaeme
Fine Art Drawings - 65 x 50 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 25.6 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
£339
Liberté
Hildegarde Handsaeme
Fine Art Drawings - 76 x 55 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 29.9 x 21.7 x 0.4 inch
£339
La vie traverse nos corps, comme des étoiles filantes
Lili Ruby Chomat
Photography - 42 x 29.7 x 0.1 cm Photography - 16.5 x 11.7 x 0 inch
£134
Il y a de la religion dans vos baisers
Lili Ruby Chomat
Photography - 42 x 29.7 x 0.1 cm Photography - 16.5 x 11.7 x 0 inch
£134
Je n'oublierai jamais ton visage
Lili Ruby Chomat
Photography - 42 x 29.7 x 0.1 cm Photography - 16.5 x 11.7 x 0 inch
£134
Un matin d'amour à Venise
Lili Ruby Chomat
Photography - 42 x 29.7 x 0.1 cm Photography - 16.5 x 11.7 x 0 inch
£134
Betty Oops !
Lili Ruby Chomat
Photography - 42 x 29.7 x 0.1 cm Photography - 16.5 x 11.7 x 0 inch
£134
Le soleil est ton portrait, te regarder c'est faire la paix
Lili Ruby Chomat
Photography - 42 x 29.7 x 0.1 cm Photography - 16.5 x 11.7 x 0 inch
£134
Elle voulait montrer son ventre à Dieu.x
Lili Ruby Chomat
Photography - 42 x 29.7 x 0.1 cm Photography - 16.5 x 11.7 x 0 inch
£134
Lemon Nude
Maciej Woltman
Fine Art Drawings - 100 x 70 x 7 cm Fine Art Drawings - 39.4 x 27.6 x 2.8 inch
£1,161
Dialogue
Maciej Woltman
Fine Art Drawings - 70 x 100 x 5 cm Fine Art Drawings - 27.6 x 39.4 x 2 inch
£1,161
Octobre rose
Flo. M
Fine Art Drawings - 20 x 20 x 0.5 cm Fine Art Drawings - 7.9 x 7.9 x 0.2 inch
£250
Indian heritage-2
Anand Manchiraju
Painting - 50.8 x 40.6 x 0.3 cm Painting - 20 x 16 x 0.1 inch
£1,659
Divas de jazz
Kristina Malashchenko
Painting - 30 x 30 x 3 cm Painting - 11.8 x 11.8 x 1.2 inch
£849
I Still Wear Your Shirt
Joyce Fournier
Painting - 30.5 x 40.6 x 2.5 cm Painting - 12 x 16 x 1 inch
£514 £411
Mirrored desires: A moonlit encounter
Tiny de Bruin
Painting - 70 x 160 x 4 cm Painting - 27.6 x 63 x 1.6 inch
£3,350
Cruelty bought you orchids
Laurent Anastay-Ponsolle
Painting - 55 x 42 x 0.1 cm Painting - 21.7 x 16.5 x 0 inch
£670
Morphée
Thalia Dalecky
Fine Art Drawings - 50 x 40 x 2 cm Fine Art Drawings - 19.7 x 15.7 x 0.8 inch
£286
Tropic # 10
Pascal Marlin
Fine Art Drawings - 20 x 20 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 7.9 x 7.9 x 0 inch
£170
Contemplating the Inarticulate
Dima Filatov
Painting - 73 x 121 x 0.5 cm Painting - 28.7 x 47.6 x 0.2 inch
£482
Woman at night
Karl-Karol Chrobok
Fine Art Drawings - 60 x 80 x 0.3 cm Fine Art Drawings - 23.6 x 31.5 x 0.1 inch
£715
Nude study no.2
Karl-Karol Chrobok
Painting - 80 x 60 x 0.2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
£715
Abandon
Laurent Anastay-Ponsolle
Fine Art Drawings - 56 x 76 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 22 x 29.9 x 0 inch
£849
Great thinker`s deathbed
Karl-Karol Chrobok
Painting - 61 x 76 x 0.4 cm Painting - 24 x 29.9 x 0.2 inch
£983
Les enfants flippants II
Laurent Anastay-Ponsolle
Painting - 55 x 42 x 0.1 cm Painting - 21.7 x 16.5 x 0 inch
£670
Brou de Ténèbres I
Laurent Anastay-Ponsolle
Fine Art Drawings - 59 x 42 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 23.2 x 16.5 x 0 inch
£581
L'île aux dames
Clara Delaporte
Photography - 31 x 21 x 2 cm Photography - 12.2 x 8.3 x 0.8 inch
£268
Elle II
Hildegarde Handsaeme
Fine Art Drawings - 56 x 75 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 22 x 29.5 x 0.4 inch
£339
Aluminum figurine of a woman
Ohad Ben-Ayala
Sculpture - 29 x 7 x 6 cm Sculpture - 11.4 x 2.8 x 2.4 inch
£1,608
Aile de poulet beige
Bernard Duca
Sculpture - 60 x 45 x 15 cm Sculpture - 23.6 x 17.7 x 5.9 inch
£8,575
Entrelacs & Miroirs II
Laurent Anastay-Ponsolle
Painting - 42 x 55 x 0.1 cm Painting - 16.5 x 21.7 x 0 inch
£670
Magic Moments
Judith Christine Riemer
Painting - 60 x 80 x 1.5 cm Painting - 23.6 x 31.5 x 0.6 inch
£983
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.