The Female Nude Analysis

The female nude has long been present in the history of art, these portrayals of the nude were originally divine paintings that of goddesses and spiritual beings (Figure 1.1). Before the feminist movement of the 1960's, for centuries these depictions of the female nude were created solely from a male viewpoint. I have chosen to discuss works that have been created by the male artist and their representation of the female form. Is it possible that because these works were created from a male standpoint that, this is how they are supposed to be perceived? And, why is it that the naked body of a woman is primarily viewed in one singular way; the vulnerable and suggestively erotic? Perhaps, the most apt artists to discuss, while on the issue of the …show more content…
The When considering the female figures depicted by Egon Schiele, one cannot denounce the erotic, pornographic nature of his work. Often, his models posing in a very sexual demeanor, usually reclined with legs outstretched (See figures 1.2-1.3). The models featured in his more erotic work were either that of his Mistresses or of prostitutes. He never painted his wife, Edith Harms, in such a sexually explicit manner. She was depicted, usually, fully clothed with a fuller figure apposed to that of the models who seemed nearly skeletal. In (Figure 1.2), we can see a woman sprawled on what seems to be a bed of some sort, with the sheets draped over her midriff half covering her vagina - the main focus of a lot of his figurative works of these women. Her somewhat awkward pose fills the whole canvas giving the appearance that a sexual exchange has potentially occurred. The women Schiele painted in these reclined positions appear to be very solemn with little to no expression on their face, their bodies displayed openly and vulnerably to the artist. When comparing these two paintings to the