Sunday, February 28, 2010

Naughty, Naughty

Ever notice how much nudity is evident in old paintings? And these were generally painted when there were pretty 'up tight' rules about displaying any 'bare' parts in everyday life.

Anyway it has me thinking about what is acceptable 'art-wise' and a good illustration of this point is the above pic. It's by a French painter Hippolyte (Paul) Delaroche 1841-1855 'The Hemicycle at the Ecole Des Beaux-Arts' (and I think I have weird titles)
Ok, besides the fact that if my ma and pa saddled me with the moniker of 'Hippolyte', I'd darn well be changing it to 'Paul' too; what is interesting about this particular piece is that Flicker banned it from posting on that site.
Yeah.....reason being that there was too much nudity. Funnily enough tho', it wasn't those lush ladies but the robust gentlemen causing the raised eyebrows and pursed lips.
Huh.
1855 ladies and gents, is when this was painted. And talk about 'low key' - there's a lot of strategically placed drapery from what I see. You see worse in the ads today. Or fashion. I see more real time butt crack when I'm out than I do in paintings.
Ah well, I guess it's all in your point of view.
And trust a piece of Art to cause controversy, even 155 years later.........Long may it be so!

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