The Art of the Nude

by Deirdre Robson

Book by Robson, Deirdre

79 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1996

Reviews

[Krzysztof · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ladni nadzy ludzie

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

i enjoyed this collection of art and their subsequent descriptions/ analyses however the framing of female nudity and how the author talks about it made me very uncomfortable; often describing depictions of the women as “ugly” or “undesirable”, that’s not to mention the uncomfortable race comments. mostly the sheer lack of comment on black servants (read: slaves) in the backgrounds of a few of the pieces, once even referring to one as “the cool black maid” as well as specifically commenting on the only depiction of a black person within the foreground in this collection with how her “dark flesh contrasts to the white sheets on which she lies”, in the same breath saying how the artist visited Tahiti to “experience a simpler more ‘primitive’ way of life” (primitive is in quotes within the book but “simpler” isn’t and neither are commented on by the author) . furthermore, the lack of acknowledgment and downright denial of the homoeroticism of a lot of the works was strange also- describing one sapphic painting as “the perfect male fantasy”.