Nude art paintings have been a feature of art culture and history for hundreds of years, thousands of years even when one considers the nude art paintings that decorated the cave dwellings of prehistoric man, through the nude art paintings of the Sistine Chapel during the Renaissance and even to the abstracted nude art paintings of Picasso and Co of the twenty first century.
What is it then, that attracts us, as human beings across the ages to producing and admiring our humble reflections in nude art paintings?
Perhaps it is the humility and vulnerability . our sensitivities exposed like hidden flesh . nude art paintings thus forming images of revelation and reminders of our true essence beneath the surface.
Nude art paintings may be expressed through various media and styles. From raw, primal shapes and textures through to intricate and realistic representations; the different styles offerring different opportunities of experience for a viewer interested in nude art paintings. By studying these different techniques of creating nude art paintings, we may gain an insight into how the human being at that point in evolution understood themselves to be. By representing themselves and their peers in nude art paintings they are arguable defining their experience within their bodies within the world. Thus nude art paintings created in prehistoric times . simple forms, shapes and colours, figures depicted in activities of survival eg hunting and gathering, can be read as reflections of a society and culture simple in its routines and traditions.
The intricate and elaborate nude art paintings of the renaissance may then reflect a society whereby greater importance was placed on furnishings and other signs of outward material wealth.
The abstract movement took nude art paintings into another realm again where the form was twisted and distorted, created and re-created, reflecting a period of growing individual freedom of choice to create identity. As in society, a person could begin to explore a wider range of careers, home situations and religions, so too could the artist express the form in a seemingly boundless range of possibilities of nude art paintings.
As the human being continues to evolve and explore, to self enquire and express; so should we see a continuation in the evolution within nude art paintings.
Nude art paintings are still produced by exciting and innovative artists of today. One artist who uses nude art paintings as a source of self expression is Australian artist Hannah Massey. Examples of her work including a range of nude art paintings of various styles and mediums can be seen at Hannah Massey.
Explorative and expressive works, these nude art paintings embody themes of both the outward and the inward process of creating art. The constant questioning, exploring of new materials and relevance of imagery itself . her nude art paintings thus take form in multiple styles.
The form is at times abstracted, simplified into compositional patterns to create nude art paintings where the enrgy is being expressed through the effects of colour, line and form.
Hannah Massey also creates nude art paintings in an expressive manner . with simple, gestural lines, smears of paint and other suggestive markings. Within this style of nude art paintings, a viewer is allowed space to create his or her own experience. In a way, the nude art paintings portrayed in this style, become like a magical mirror whereby the simplicity allows each individual to enter and find their own reality within.
It's interesting to observe here a simplicity that can exist between nude art paintings and traditional Japanese calligraphy. Nude art paintings and calligraphy can be created with a similarity of treatment and technique . a fluidity and integrity of line becoming the form. Great practice, discipline and humility are required to produce a work stripped down to its essential elements.
The naked human form is often a source of sexual stimulation and thus nude art paintings can exist as various forms of erotica. Sexual fantasies are frequently depicted in nude art paintings or nude art paintings may be created as celebrations of the pleasure of the sexual experience. In some cases, eg the Kama Sutra, nude art paintings represent a form of sexual education, a reference and guide to the art of love making.
And so it seems that nude art paintings, created undeniably throughout the majority of art history, can also exist as metaphors for the observation and contemplation of art, culture and society. Nude art paintings may define, in an indirect and therefore more truthful way, the human experience.
By seeking within nude art paintings our own experience, our own meaning, we may even gain a deeper understanding of ourselves.
So may nude art paintings continue to inspire, intrigue and excite both artists and audiences for many generations to come!