Customer Reviews

The Nude: Ideal and Reality--Photography

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The Galleria d' Arte Moderna curated an exhibit that examined the photographic nude, from the nineteenth centry through the end of the twentieth. The collection feature famous subjects, from Josephine Baker to John Lennon, along with lesser-known and anonymous models.
It also present iconic images, including Man Ray's "Violin", that everyone should recognize, along with images that will be new to the reader. Likewise, photographers range from un-named nineteenth century peep-show artists to landmark names like Stieglitz, Weston, Cunningham, and Mapplethorpe. And, among those, I find a few personal favorites, like Karsten's "Tania" and Bernhardt's "Two Forms" (the cover picture). Dijkstra's new mother appears, clutching her newborn, stomach still loose, and with a drop of blood running down her leg. Despite the one Araki photo of a bound woman, explicit eroticism is rare - any erotic sense comes more from the reader's own mind than from the simple fact of human form.

This collection intentionally covers a vast range. Muybridge's scientific studies of figures in motion reflect the clinical approach that this book takes towards its subject: clear-eyed and somewhat dispassionate, as befits the serious study of its subject. "Serious" does not mean "grim," though, and this ends with a playful and witty photographic homage to Matisse's "The Dance." I recommend this nicely printed collection to anyone interested in the photographic and artistic nude.

-- wiredweird