Art nude
Encyclopedia
An art nude is a work of art
Work of art
A work of art, artwork, art piece, or art object is an aesthetic item or artistic creation.The term "a work of art" can apply to:*an example of fine art, such as a painting or sculpture*a fine work of architecture or landscape design...

 that takes the naked human form
Nudity
Nudity is the state of wearing no clothing. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic. The amount of clothing worn depends on functional considerations and social considerations...

 as its dominant subject. The term is used for painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...

, sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...

, photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...

, and mixed media
Mixed media
Mixed media, in visual art, refers to an artwork in the making of which more than one medium has been employed.There is an important distinction between "mixed-media" artworks and "multimedia art". Mixed media tends to refer to a work of visual art that combines various traditionally distinct...

.

Western tradition

In the tradition of Western art
Western art history
Western art is the art of the North American and European countries, and art created in the forms accepted by those countries.Written histories of Western art often begin with the art of the Ancient Middle East, Ancient Egypt and the Ancient Aegean civilisations, dating from the 3rd millennium BC...

, nudity was common in the painting and sculpture of classical antiquity
Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...

.

In the Christian era, early artists who used nude models included Michelangelo
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...

, Botticelli and da Vinci.

In photography

Many photographers of nude subjects began to use the term figurenude to describe their "art nude" photos, to avoid description of their works as erotica
Erotica
Erotica are works of art, including literature, photography, film, sculpture and painting, that deal substantively with erotically stimulating or sexually arousing descriptions...

 or pornography
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...

.

The term art nude is used for an object of art with a nude human figure making up about one quarter of the surface area and is not intentionally erotic. It does not involve the subject interacting with anyone or the face of the nude as a prominent feature. The nude human form presented is revealed as an object of art and not a person with reference to his or her social relationships and behavioral patterns.

Ruth Bernhard
Ruth Bernhard
Ruth Bernhard was an American photographer.-Early life:Bernhard was born in Berlin and studied at the Berlin Academy of Art from 1925–27. Bernhard's father, Lucian Bernhard, was known for his poster and typeface design.-Photography career:In 1927 Bernhard moved to New York City, where her...

 was one of the earliest to describe her photographs as "art nudes". She particularly noted that she never photographed a nude with the subject looking into the lens. During an interview with Donna Conrad, the 95 year old Bernhard compared her nude photographs to those of Jock Sturges
Jock Sturges
Jock Sturges is an American photographer, best known for his images of nude adolescents and their families, primarily taken at communes in Northern California and at the Atlantic-coast naturist resort at Montalivet, France. His work has been the subject of controversy...

, saying: "I never have made a nude where there is a facial expression."

Early photographers who have well-known works considered "art nudes" include Imogen Cunningham
Imogen Cunningham
Imogen Cunningham was an American photographer known for her photography of botanicals, nudes and industry.-Life and career:...

, Ruth Bernhard
Ruth Bernhard
Ruth Bernhard was an American photographer.-Early life:Bernhard was born in Berlin and studied at the Berlin Academy of Art from 1925–27. Bernhard's father, Lucian Bernhard, was known for his poster and typeface design.-Photography career:In 1927 Bernhard moved to New York City, where her...

, Anne Brigman
Anne Brigman
Anne Wardrope Brigman was an American photographer and one of the original members of the Photo-Secession movement in America. Her most famous images were taken between 1900 and 1920, and depict nude women in primordial, naturalistic contexts.-Life:Brigman was born in the Nuuanu Valley above...

, Edward Weston
Edward Weston
Edward Henry Weston was a 20th century American photographer. He has been called "one of the most innovative and influential American photographers…" and "one of the masters of 20th century photography." Over the course of his forty-year career Weston photographed an increasingly expansive set of...

 and Alfred Stieglitz
Alfred Stieglitz
Alfred Stieglitz was an American photographer and modern art promoter who was instrumental over his fifty-year career in making photography an accepted art form...

.

See also

  • Model (art)
    Model (art)
    Art models are models who pose for photographers, painters, sculptors, and other artists as part of their work of art. Art models who pose in the nude for life drawing are usually called life models...

  • Depictions of nudity
  • Nude photography
    Nude photography
    Nude photography is a style of art photography which depicts the nude human body as a study. Nude photography should be distinguished from glamour photography, which places more emphasis on the model and her/his sexuality, and treats the model as the primary subject. Nude photography should also be...

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