‘The Flesh’ includes artworks by legendary Spanish artist Pablo Picasso and French artist Paul Cézanne. The works displayed in this gallery showcase the human body as it is through individual stylistic movements that these artists spearheaded.
In literary terms, the word ‘dust’ is often associated with the mortal human body. The artworks displayed in this gallery are brazen depictions of the human figure and form. |
Pablo Picasso Nude in a Black Chair, 1932 Oil on canvas Nude in a Black Chair is one of Picasso's great Cubist masterpieces. The sleeping woman, who seems to swell and expand like a growing plant within the elastic cocoon of her skin, sprouts philodendron leaves from beneath her breast. Picasso makes use of the philodendron leaves to symbolise fertility as parts of the woman’s body can be metaphorically equated with cells, sprouting seeds, ripe fruit, verdant foliage and so forth. The woman, arms spread behind her head, is sprawled out in an almost perverse fashion on the black chair. What makes this painting remarkable is the fact that Picasso was able to translate the raw sexuality of the woman on canvas even though the painting was not a still-life. |
Paul Cézanne Baigneurs, 1879-82 Oil on canvas Throughout history, there has been no shortage of female nudes depicted in art. However, what makes the male nude unique by comparison is the artist’s gaze. As most professional artists in the past have been men, their self-awareness, as well as their desire for or repulsion toward the male figure have influenced their artworks greatly. Artistic depictions of all-male recreational and social activities became popular at the turn of the twentieth century. Images of bathhouses and other bathing scenes became especially common, with the artist serving as a voyeur into these clandestine activities. Cézanne’s Baigneurs, seen here, present a well-known example of the nude male figure in several different poses and angles. To achieve this masterpiece, Cézanne aimed to fuse the human figure and landscape together. The artist went towards the abstraction of natural bodies, and treated each element of the painting with equal importance. |
References
Cézanne, P. (1879-82). Baigneurs [Painting]. Retrieved from https://nga.gov.au/Exhibition/MASTERPIECESfromPARIS/Default.cfm? IRN=191185&BioArtistIRN=21796&MnuID=SRCH&ArtistIRN=21796&ViewID=2
Musée d'Orsay. (n.d.). Paul Cézanne baigneurs. Retrieved from http://www.musee-orsay.fr/fr/collections/oeuvres-commentees/recherche/
commentaire/commentaire_id/baigneurs-97.html?no_cache=1
Picasso, P. (1932). Nude in a black chair [Painting]. Retrieved from https://www.pablopicasso.org/nude-in-a-black-arm-chair.jsp
PabloPicasso.org. (n.d.). Nude in a black chair, 1932. Retrieved from https://www.pablopicasso.org/nude-in-a-black-arm-chair.jsp
The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. (n.d.). 11 famous male nudes from art history. Retrieved from http://warhol.christies.com/warho-male-nude/#
Cézanne, P. (1879-82). Baigneurs [Painting]. Retrieved from https://nga.gov.au/Exhibition/MASTERPIECESfromPARIS/Default.cfm? IRN=191185&BioArtistIRN=21796&MnuID=SRCH&ArtistIRN=21796&ViewID=2
Musée d'Orsay. (n.d.). Paul Cézanne baigneurs. Retrieved from http://www.musee-orsay.fr/fr/collections/oeuvres-commentees/recherche/
commentaire/commentaire_id/baigneurs-97.html?no_cache=1
Picasso, P. (1932). Nude in a black chair [Painting]. Retrieved from https://www.pablopicasso.org/nude-in-a-black-arm-chair.jsp
PabloPicasso.org. (n.d.). Nude in a black chair, 1932. Retrieved from https://www.pablopicasso.org/nude-in-a-black-arm-chair.jsp
The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. (n.d.). 11 famous male nudes from art history. Retrieved from http://warhol.christies.com/warho-male-nude/#