Human body
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La lune n'a rien à craindre des loups #11
VAM / Jean-Pierre Gilson
Photography - 60 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$1,910
La lune n'a rien à craindre des loups #10
VAM / Jean-Pierre Gilson
Photography - 60 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$1,910
La lune n'a rien à craindre des loups #8
VAM / Jean-Pierre Gilson
Photography - 60 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$1,910
La lune n'a rien à craindre des loups #7
VAM / Jean-Pierre Gilson
Photography - 60 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$1,910
La lune n'a rien à craindre des loups #4
VAM / Jean-Pierre Gilson
Photography - 60 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$1,910
La lune n'a rien à craindre des loups #5
VAM / Jean-Pierre Gilson
Photography - 60 x 80 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 31.5 x 0 inch
$1,910
Venus
Franciszek Starowieyski
Fine Art Drawings - 21 x 30 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 8.3 x 11.8 x 0 inch
$899
Emballons-nous !
Idan Wizen
Photography - 60 x 90 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 0 inch
$1,517
Chloris 1/8
Marcos Rodrigo
Sculpture - 29.5 x 12.5 x 12.5 cm Sculpture - 11.6 x 4.9 x 4.9 inch
$1,854
Embody
Nino Eliashvili
Fine Art Drawings - 70 x 50 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 27.6 x 19.7 x 0 inch
$2,135
Woman 1
Irakli (Akuna) Kavtaradze
Painting - 60 x 42 x 0.1 cm Painting - 23.6 x 16.5 x 0 inch
$1,011
1952 Paris Muse Assise
Kam Zin Choon
Fine Art Drawings - 57 x 45 x 0.5 cm Fine Art Drawings - 22.4 x 17.7 x 0.2 inch
$2,191
1952 Paris Muse de dos
Kam Zin Choon
Fine Art Drawings - 68 x 44.5 cm Fine Art Drawings - 26.8 x 17.5 inch
$1,517
1952 PARIS MUSE La voluptueuse Voluptuousness
Kam Zin Choon
Fine Art Drawings - 50 x 70 x 0.5 cm Fine Art Drawings - 19.7 x 27.6 x 0.2 inch
$2,191
The Alignment
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 55.9 x 78.7 x 0.3 cm Photography - 22 x 31 x 0.1 inch
$2,000
Braquage Braquage
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 40 x 50 x 1 cm Photography - 15.7 x 19.7 x 0.4 inch
$955
Guerrière allongée sur mannequin
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 25 x 25 x 1 cm Photography - 9.8 x 9.8 x 0.4 inch
$787
Guerrière avec 3 heaumes
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 25 x 25 x 1 cm Photography - 9.8 x 9.8 x 0.4 inch
$787
Guerrière cartonnée
Bruno Fournier
Photography - 25 x 25 x 1 cm Photography - 9.8 x 9.8 x 0.4 inch
$787
L'envol
Ray Smith
Fine Art Drawings - 27 x 37 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 10.6 x 14.6 x 0 inch
$1,124
Vénus pop noire
Guillaume Roche
Sculpture - 55 x 20 x 20 cm Sculpture - 21.7 x 7.9 x 7.9 inch
$1,348
Less is more...Really?
Joann Côté
Painting - 177.8 x 101.6 x 5.1 cm Painting - 70 x 40 x 2 inch
$5,500
Lovers - Night of passion 9
Carmen Tyrrell
Painting - 75.9 x 61 x 1.5 cm Painting - 29.9 x 24 x 0.6 inch
$982
Lovers - Night of passion 10
Carmen Tyrrell
Painting - 75.9 x 61 x 1.5 cm Painting - 29.9 x 24 x 0.6 inch
$1,022
Lovers - Love of my life 2
Carmen Tyrrell
Painting - 80 x 59.9 x 1.5 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.6 inch
$982
Lovers - Love of my life 3
Carmen Tyrrell
Painting - 80 x 59.9 x 1.5 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.6 inch
$982
Earth goddess - Triptych
Carmen Tyrrell
Painting - 59.9 x 126 x 1.5 cm Painting - 23.6 x 49.6 x 0.6 inch
$1,729
Allez voir ailleurs
Gatien Mabounga
Fine Art Drawings - 66 x 133 cm Fine Art Drawings - 26 x 52.4 inch
$2,135
Sans titre (8)
Franciszek Starowieyski
Fine Art Drawings - 21 x 29.7 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 8.3 x 11.7 x 0 inch
$674
Troux divine
Franciszek Starowieyski
Fine Art Drawings - 21 x 29.7 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 8.3 x 11.7 x 0 inch
$674
Notre pain quotidien
Franciszek Starowieyski
Fine Art Drawings - 21 x 29.7 x 0.1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 8.3 x 11.7 x 0 inch
$674
Sans titre
Franciszek Starowieyski
Fine Art Drawings - 21 x 29.7 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 8.3 x 11.7 x 0.4 inch
$674
Sans titre
Franciszek Starowieyski
Fine Art Drawings - 29 x 21 x 1 cm Fine Art Drawings - 11.4 x 8.3 x 0.4 inch
$674
My Chamber 3
Rebecca Yunjeong Lee
Painting - 69 x 100 x 3 cm Painting - 27.2 x 39.4 x 1.2 inch
$2,210
Anvers
Ernest Pignon-Ernest
Fine Art Drawings - 63 x 38 cm Fine Art Drawings - 24.8 x 15 inch
$22,473
Curves #47
Michal Zahornacky
Photography - 60 x 60 x 0.3 cm Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0.1 inch
$1,686
Cineris. De la serie Renascere
Aku Menditeguy
Print - 28 x 18 x 0.1 cm Print - 11 x 7.1 x 0 inch
$136
Petite femme enceinte 1
Carl Jaunay
Sculpture - 17 x 14 x 9 cm Sculpture - 6.7 x 5.5 x 3.5 inch
$438
Amor entrañable
Ernest Carneado Ferreri
Painting - 81 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 31.9 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,124
The journey within
Ifigenia Christodoulidou
Painting - 78.7 x 61 x 2 cm Painting - 31 x 24 x 0.8 inch
$3,700
The Shield of Heracles
Derek Overfield
Painting - 139.7 x 152.4 x 5.1 cm Painting - 55 x 60 x 2 inch
$2,045
The Madness of Heracles
Derek Overfield
Painting - 139.7 x 152.4 x 5.1 cm Painting - 55 x 60 x 2 inch
$2,045
Hercules breaking the bonds of Prometheus II
Derek Overfield
Painting - 139.7 x 152.4 x 5.1 cm Painting - 55 x 60 x 2 inch
$2,045
Sleep embracing a man
Derek Overfield
Painting - 139.7 x 109.2 x 5.1 cm Painting - 55 x 43 x 2 inch
$1,540
Man catching and throwing a ball
Milburn-Foster
Painting - 92 x 73 x 3 cm Painting - 36.2 x 28.7 x 1.2 inch
$6,630
Man throwing a ball
Milburn-Foster
Painting - 92 x 73 x 3 cm Painting - 36.2 x 28.7 x 1.2 inch
$6,630
Mujer vestida mujer desnuda
Ernest Carneado Ferreri
Painting - 90 x 73 x 2 cm Painting - 35.4 x 28.7 x 0.8 inch
$1,461
Untitled IX
José Sierra
Photography - 101.6 x 78.3 x 0.3 cm Photography - 40 x 30.81 x 0.1 inch
$2,000
Untitled VIII
José Sierra
Photography - 101.6 x 73.4 x 0.3 cm Photography - 40 x 28.9 x 0.1 inch
$2,000
Untitled VII
José Sierra
Photography - 101.6 x 58.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 40 x 23.19 x 0.1 inch
$2,000
Untitled V
José Sierra
Photography - 101.6 x 74.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 40 x 29.5 x 0.1 inch
$2,000
La Coquette
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 60 x 40 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 15.7 x 0 inch
$882
Autoportrait au loup
Pierre Molinier
Photography - 11 x 6.3 x 0.1 cm Photography - 4.3 x 2.5 x 0 inch
$2,023
Woman on the balcony
Jacek Cyganek
Painting - 80 x 100 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 39.4 x 0.8 inch
$1,124
Woman nude, Pop art - Antifragile
Dasha Pogodina
Painting - 80 x 60 x 2 cm Painting - 31.5 x 23.6 x 0.8 inch
$1,011
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.