Word: nudes
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...this does not deny that some artists can illustrate "be-ing" in their paintings. In the catalogue, White gives the example of Rembrandt's Bathsheba that Kenneth Clark describes in his book, The Nude: A Study in Ideal Form; the viewer considers Bathsheba's thoughts transcending the moment depicted, "and yet these thoughts are indissolubly part of her body." Here is the gist of be-ing without clothes: "the presence of thought that vitalizes the whole human being...
...explain the evolution of an ideal form to accommodate the medium of camerawork, White traces the development of the nude as the ideal form in art. He draws on classic forms from Clark's Nude: Study: the Greek model of Perfect Man as god, beautiful body and well-trained athlete; the change Christianity marked as the ideal became fallen man, like Van Eyck's Adam or Eve with protruding bellies; the Renaissance resurrection of love for the human form; and then a need for the spiritualization of man as he rejects all former images of himself...
Although it's understandable that White is drawing plans rather than constructing "be-ing" in this exhibit, what could have been illustrated more effectively is the differentiation between "nude," "naked," and "be-ing without clothes"-the last of which for White is "ultimately neither nude nor naked...
...EXHIBIT are examples of the artist-photographer who pictures the "nude" as an ideal form of art: Barbara Morgan's photo "Pregnant" (a pregnant woman's torso), if it had been placed next to a reproduction of Van Eyck's Eve from the Ghent Altarpiece, certainly would emphasize the classic form. So would John Brook's "Moon in Leo" if placed next to a similarly entwined Rodin couple. Next to Christine Enos' "Richard" (a man flanked by two statues of Greek goddesses) should have been placed sculpture representations of the Greek god-athlete-man. Goodwin Harding's "emulation...
...White had pointed out these aspects of "the nude" as an ideal form of art distinguished from the "naked" as an ideal form of life, maybe then we'd understand "be-ing without clothes" as a form of camerawork that is neither "nude" nor "naked." Rather, he lets a hundred photos determine his exhibition instead of locating them in relation to his statement of be-ingness as photography's ideal form...