The Background Of Nude Painting

Paintings of still-life objects, landscape and paintings of animals are impressive, express emotions and tell stories. Images of the human figure, in particular nudes, however, translate emotions most acutely.

The earliest known nude is the celebrated Venus of Willendorf, found in Austria. She is from the Stone Age (ca. 38000 - 10000 BC). Surprising to the archaeologists, sculptures of the nude female figure in the rest of the world were quite similar.

The earliest, most celebrated, nude art known today are from Greece and Rome in the period of Antiquity (900 BC - 300 AD). The realism of these works were quite impressive, and typifies the "Greek God" sculpture look.

The late Antiquity to Pre-Renaissance (300 - 1450) paintings were dominated by scriptural Christian paintings. This era was also classified as the Middle Ages and included Gothic art, Trecento and Romanesque paintings. Human figures were mostly stylized and symbolic rather than expressive. Nudes (if at all) were depicted as part of a narrative, rather than expression of emotion.

The Renaissance period (1500s) was the rebirth of attention to the realistic human figure. It was this time that Artist's signed their names onto their works and re-focused on the skill of executing artwork to impress, rather than indoctrinate.

18th Century nudes were the product of social and political climate of its time. The art (mostly) got less flamboyant and more stately, and majestic. A good number of nude paintings were borne out of this era. It was the dawn of satirical art. Many artists were also bound by the business of portraiture.

The 19th Century nudes developed to less "in-the-flesh" and more stylistic. The artists of this era were varied and more experimental in their style. Painting styles were experimented with, and there were movements or -isms that were borne from this time.The Realists were about style. Their subject matter were focused on contemporary, real life ordinary subjects. They reject the idealism in painting ideas used in Christianity or mythology as sole subjects for art.The Expressionists were more varied in the style. The nudes were much poignant in the message of the paintings. The focus is on communicating than purely aesthetics. Of the famous artists of this genre are Paul Gauguin, Edvard Munch, Amedeo Modigliani, Gustav Klimt, Egon Shiele, and Henri Matisse.

The 20th Century began with tumultuous years of the two world wars. Great art derived from this era were interesting and expressive. Abstraction is born, and often the subject of "nude" is no longer a recognizable shape. The 18th Century adopted styles of the Impressionists and Expressionists still live on. Contemporary artists are, in one way or another, influenced by their predecessors.