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.

Search by Image

Save your search and find it in your favorites

11/100 1 9 10 11 12 13 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Categories

Subcategories

Human body

Enfant revenant des champs. Ethiopie

Huile et Rouille

Relax pour les zèbres de Tanzanie

Ourson brun. Quelle chaleur. Canada

Droit dans mes bottes. Inde

Œil d'éléphant. Inde du nord

Une bonne sieste. Lémuriens

Buffle sous le pont d'Agra, Taj Mahal. Inde

Perroquet Ara. Pantanal. Brésil

Paon à la chasse. Inde

Fin de journée sur les ballons

Aube et envol de Montgolfières

Envol de Montgolfières

Jeune fille revenant du champs. Ethiopie

Indiens de la Vallée de L'Omo. Dassanech. Ethiopie

Corazon y alma

Danza (omaggio a Matisse)

My Goddess

The Guardians

Hanging by a thread

Procession - série personnages en marche bronze

Origins: from the Blanco series.

Sans titre - N°VIII

Appareils photos

Gently transformation

Sharp harmonies

Cosmic Runner

Mon amour

Red woman, abstract women body (1)

Red woman, abstract women body

Diàlogo Exento

Sordo III

Le peuple de la cité de Dieu

Code 1959

Swallow No. 42

Fairy

Feel the Blue III

Entre o Afeto I, 2025 - Ritchelly Oliveira

Quietly

Mar Azul

Pergame

Best friends, Tales of Existence Series

Cenizas-10

My Ray of Hope

Journey Home: Preserving Serenity

Elegant Dominant #2

Désert

Marilyn in Famous Black Dress (1962)

Flexion à genoux Moodhanasana

Stairs

Lithographie (5) (1)

Anna and Maria

Reclamo a azul

Plant Lady, Sweet Home series

Faune

Spring in the Moon

It's a lifestyle not a goal

Slowing down is the new luxury

Endorphins look good on you

Attitude When Facing Harm

Portrait-II

Olivier centenaire

Les contresignés (1) Série

Free woman

Vesna

Man Curve Two: From Motion Series