My friends and family often ask me why so many artists paint (as they say) “naked people”. Some think that the nude is just pornography, while others simply think that it is outdated in the art world. Most artists will tell you something like “we don’t see them as ‘naked’, we only see beauty.” Although this may be true, it does not answer our question. As a classically trained artist, I have a theory about why people make art using the nude. I think the first step to understanding nudity in art is understanding why people made them in the past and why they continue to make them.

There are three basic categories of nudity, which are not necessarily mutually exclusive (sometimes they overlap):

The ideal nude: Originating from the Greeks, the ideal nude is just a concept in reality, the basis of which was explained more clearly by Plato. He affirmed that within all things there is a universal and divine “form” that defines it. For example: If you look at 100 trees, each individual tree will look different, but they are all similar enough to classify as trees. What is the underlying similarity or quality of the tree that makes it a tree? Plato called this thing, this equality, form. Greek artists took this idea and tried to find the ideal shape of the human body. They used shapes on the human body, just like a musician would use musical notes to form a chord. The idea was to create harmony through repetition and variation of certain visual elements of the body. Excellent examples of this are, of course, classical Greek and Roman sculpture, Leonardo da Vinci (who could also be mentioned in all these categories for different works), Donatello, Raphael, and the neoclassicists of the 19th century.

The Observed Nude: It originated in the Fayum portraits of ancient Greece in a painting technique called encaustic, which uses wax as the medium for pigment rather than oil or water. The main purpose of this originated from the portrait and was about trying to capture the personality and particular appearance of the individual. Great examples of this can be found in the paintings of Rembrandt, John Singer Sargent, and ancient Roman portrait busts.

The Expressive Nude: This form is meant to do exactly what its name implies. The nude is used here as the main vehicle for the artist’s expression, usually for emotional purposes and, in the case of the Renaissance, devotional. Great examples would be the work of Michelangelo (which could also be classified under the ideal nude) and most of the artists of the modern period: Rodin, Picasso, Matisse, Kathe Kollwitz, Edvard Munch, and Paul Gauguin, etc.

I would like to rephrase our original question in the interest of the patent and be more specific. “Why is the human face and body by far the most recurrent theme in all of art history?” Modern scientific research also gives us a clue as to the reasons behind our question. The human face and body psychologically stimulate the mind. Our brains are actually programmed to recognize the human form. Take, for example, a chimpanzee. If you look at three different chimpanzees for 5 seconds, could you tell them apart as individuals? Now if you look at three human faces for 5 seconds, I bet your success rate will be much higher. But a chimpanzee can recognize and differentiate other chimpanzees much more easily, just as you can recognize a human face much more easily.

You could say, OK, I understand why we look at faces, that makes sense, but why nudes? Well, there are several reasons. First (and least important to me) is tradition. There is a long tradition that predates even the Egyptians of recreating the human body. So as a method of teaching art, there are many people who have done it before, and therefore there are many excellent techniques and examples of art training that have been developed that apply to other art forms as well. Second, it is a test of skill. If one can make a credible representation of something with which we are so familiar, then everything else is a piece of cake. If I paint a chimpanzee, it would be less critical whether or not it looks real than a human face, simply because most of us don’t see chimpanzees every day for our entire lives. Some artists get caught up in this challenge of perfection and are never satisfied with their degree of skill (I know I never am) and therefore continue to pursue the impossible perfection even though most people do not see the little flaws of the work that the artist does. -The following passage includes much of my opinion on the subject and is not intended to force my views on anyone, but simply to share another point of view.

Third, (and most important to me) the nude, when I choose to paint it, is representative of more than just observation. My works are intended to evoke complex emotions or thoughts in the viewer, and are not intended to be decorative, although beauty is important to me. Since nudity is not often seen in normal everyday settings, it implies that there is something more to the performance. Makes the piece more intimate. For me, art is about transmitting the complexity of life; your joy and your pain. If I paint a nude with a certain degree of implicit sexuality, it is to communicate the dual nature of every human being. Everyone, from the most pious, to the most vile, from the greatest ideals of compassion and love, to fear and jealousy; we are all torn between what we are and what we want to be. We all have some desire to do or see something greater than what is before us, and we all struggle with the desire for immediate pleasure. It is this tension between our animal and divine side that I try to evoke; and in doing so, perhaps to help myself and others understand a little more about being human.