Juvenile Depictions
¹The juvenileness portrayed in this one shocked me, made me question what the artists perversions, and attractions were and if they played a part in this, and if this was more an expression of fantasy, or rather a place to express those feelings. Furthermore a wonder of what the “acceptable” demographics of that time were and maybe that played a part, and why such a paintings fame didn’t get swayed. It also made me question what exactly makes this painting or other paintings depictions juvenile in nature, is it the lack of body hair which was a contrast to the times pieces, was it the pinkness of the nipple, or maybe the lack of imperfection and smoothness of the skin. These qualities I think all can contribute, but the accumulation of those with whatever energy was behind this particular depiction, was such an intense unnerving feeling of juvenescence.
²This is a continued questioning and curiosity to depiction of youthfulness, this painting is another great example of the surprise of the juxtaposition of depicted youthfulness. With the fact this is a very different setting to La Source it raises the question of was this just a time period thing. What I mean by that is, during this time was that what the desired quality was above all else and that paintings or at least successful and accepted paintings needed to portray youthfulness, that was that times obsession, when it comes to physical qualities.
³Tnother example in which there is a clear focus and extra intention to this juvinile aspects of the characters, and in this one it serves as a harsh contrast to the age depicted throughout the other aspects of the painting. Could it be that there lifespans were much shorter back then? And that why they are depicted as such, even if that is true I think it would only make up a small portion of the thinking that went into these art pieces
¹Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres La Source 1856 Huile sur toile H. 163,0 ; L. 80,0 cm. Legs comtesse Duchâtel, 1878 ; Dépôt du musée du Louvre, 1986 © RMN-Grand Palais (Musée d’Orsay) / Original Photograph
¹Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres La Source 1856 Huile sur toile H. 163,0 ; L. 80,0 cm. Legs comtesse Duchâtel, 1878 ; Dépôt du musée du Louvre, 1986 © RMN-Grand Palais (Musée d’Orsay) / Hervé Lewandowski
²Attribué à Belle, Alexis Simon (Paris, 12–01–1674 - Paris, 21–11–1734), painter. Between 1694 et 1734.
³Attribué à Le Prince, Jean-Baptiste (Metz, 17–09–1734 - Saint-Denis-du-Port, 30–09–1781), painter. 18th Century.
*Full image not shown, do not believe it meets level for “good curation”, but is necessary to be shown for conversation.
What’s the Correct Portrayal of a Body?
Note: Sorry for audio quality, I will get better at recording each time, apologize
Main figure in discussion.
500-490 BC, Statue of Aristodikos 3938
590-580 BC, The New York kouros
Although both of these statues are considered naturalism-and rightfully so when comparing them the earlier more representational greek statues which take after heavily from Egyptian figures. Though, these two statues show a substantial difference when comparing sharpness, and the more “natural” look in top statue.
Additional Photos
Image Source.
Palagia, O (2006). Greek Sculpture: function, materials, and techniques in the Archaic and Classical periods. Cambridge University Press
Body Portrayal
Preface
This discussion comes form the thinking involved with imagery, theory, and art that comes from the 18th and 19th century in American, in particular the art and portrayal of the BODY.
Study of Body Portrayal
Looking through these archives, especially it being in the context of 1700’s United States, makes me realise how majority or one can even say “all” due to amount of representation, is done by MALE artist. What is effect of this on large scale to peoples body’s as a whole. Art is a form in which people have been able to observe from an outside perspective of what body can look like, and allows space for people to really take time to analyse a large array of body shapes, features, and ideals. But if all these portals are done by male vision, how skewed must these ideals we have formed be! It’s not just one person’s view but societal beliefs on what a body can be are ultimately distorted from what the artist biases are, and thinking even further the extent and impact this also has had on male body types. Now I recognise there is men who do properly honour and respect what true beauty and the beauty of fememnity is. I would consider myself to be one who is constantly pursuit of integrally honouring and respecting the divine femine. But, the possible impact of male art must be questioned. Thinking through this makes me go to the question of, What came first? Did these portayls come and effect the body that is being self-crafted, and constructed by women, and additionally by garments and accessories worn by women-who also has male influence particularly in large amount of male designers when looking at the modern age. Or did these body types get crafted through other means, and the result is what the artist accurately portrays? I think the truth can be questioned, theorised, and debated a number of way, but when looking at it myself it must be a combination of both. The body is formed, the artist then portrays this body and ones biased will commonly be enacted on to their painting purposefully, and unconsciously. This actually brings me back to my own experience of art, and additionally looking at other “normal” peoples portals of the body in modern age. Although it is important to note how different a time we are in and the never understated impact of social media on modern day. When drawing a nude figure I realized how I projected my own desires or gripes with my own body on the figure of drawing, say I observed my waist not being as toned and muscular as id IDEALLY like, I noticed I would make my interpretation of the live models waist to be more toned than it was in reality. I realised this was the same in everyone else’s as well the parts they like they emphasise the parts the may feel uncomfortable by, or want to change in themselves, smaller and more “quiet” then the rest of the body. Bringing it back to past times I think these biases small or large, would most likely have made its effect to the people but not necessarily fully define, change, and distort the body’s of others throughout time, partially due to the fact the world isn’t as linear and it is in a constance dance and communication with one another, in particularly for this art to muse. But I also think a lot of these ideals are also heavily are results of the psyche of a person, and additional the collective consciousness at that time. It continues the curiosity of, If art is mostly a male perspective, how much of society’s view of body has been susceptible and ultimately altered from this one sided view, and more importantly how much perspective and beauty have we missed if others were represented just as heavily throughout history?
Image Source.
Mcinnis, M. D. & Nelson, L. P. (2011). Shaping the Body Politics-Art and Political Formation in Early America. University of Virginia Press Charlottesville & London