Human body
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Yanna au coquillage
Jacques Coquillay
Sculpture - 100 x 31 x 21 cm Sculpture - 39.4 x 12.2 x 8.3 inch
$16,770
The Lebanese Mona Lisa
Dzovig Arnelian
Painting - 100 x 75 x 0.5 cm Painting - 39.4 x 29.5 x 0.2 inch
$680
Nu de la mer
Lucien Clergue
Photography - 59.5 x 49.4 x 1 cm Photography - 23.4 x 19.4 x 0.4 inch
$6,484
Untitled 1
Boshra Mustafa
Fine Art Drawings - 26 x 26 x 1.5 cm Fine Art Drawings - 10.2 x 10.2 x 0.6 inch
$1,000
The Wave Rider – II
Alexander Levich
Painting - 45 x 35 x 2 cm Painting - 17.7 x 13.8 x 0.8 inch
$771
Cerro de Hombres
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Palmar. From the Viva series.
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 76.2 x 50.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 30 x 20 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Coral. From the Viva series.
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Acto Tres. From the series - Acto Uno
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 76.2 x 50.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 30 x 20 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Acto Uno. From the series - Acto Uno
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 76.2 x 50.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 30 x 20 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Untitled. From the series Acto Uno
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Alas Tres. From the series Acto Uno
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Alas Dos. From the series Acto Uno
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Alas. From the series Acto Uno
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Arena Cuatro. From the series Acto Uno
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Arena. From the series - Acto Uno
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Arena Dos. From the series - Acto Uno
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Arena Tres. From the series - Acto Uno
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Acto Dos. From the series - Acto Uno
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 76.2 x 50.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 30 x 20 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Centre Line. From the series "Acto Uno"
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Principio. From the series "Acto Uno"
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Untitled. From the series "Acto Uno"
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Danza de fortuna dos. From the series "Danza de Fortuna"
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 76.2 x 50.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 30 x 20 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Purificación. From the series Momentum
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Piel 3. From the series Momentum
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Piel 2. From the series Momentum
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Piel. From the series Momentum
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Latidos. From the series Momentum
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Momentum 3. From the series Momentum
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Momentum 2. From the series Momentum
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Bautizo. From the series Momentum
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Respiro. From the series Momentum
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Alexander. From the series Momentum
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Untitled. From the series Espiral
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 76.2 x 50.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 30 x 20 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Untitled 2. From the series Espiral
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 76.2 x 50.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 30 x 20 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Arco 2. From the series Espiral
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 76.2 x 50.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 30 x 20 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Espiral. From the series Espiral
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 76.2 x 50.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 30 x 20 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Espiral 2. From the series Espiral
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 76.2 x 50.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 30 x 20 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Sculpture of Cornelio 4
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Sculpture of Cornelio 3
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Sculpture of Cornelio 2
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Sculpture of Cornelio.
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Espina. From the Viva series
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 76.2 x 50.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 30 x 20 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Palma en la noche. From the Viva series
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Tulip. From the Viva series
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Hombre en movimiento 4
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Hombre en movimiento 3
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Hombre en movimiento 2
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Hombre en movimiento 1
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 50.8 x 76.2 x 0.3 cm Photography - 20 x 30 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Brigitte et ciseaux
Jean-Pierre Le Boul'ch
Painting - 93 x 74 x 2 cm Painting - 36.6 x 29.1 x 0.8 inch
$3,578
Shadows (self portrait)
Vittorialessia Brunetti
Print - 70 x 50 x 1 cm Print - 27.6 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
$1,621
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.