Recently a friend asked for our opinions on a subject that involved the human form in art. Specifically what degree of the human body was acceptable to be shown when modeling for art studies. This is part of my response to her:
Message:
I think it's smart of you to think through such a sensitive subject, and I hope my feedback can be helpful:
My thought process concerning it:
The human body is designed to be attractive to the opposite sex. And for good reason! The body can evoke very good and strong emotions.
When emotions are reserved it creates value, they become special. There are two ways that emotions can be reserved:
Timing: When things don't happen all the time they become special, like Birthday's and Weddings.
Audience: When a limited amount of people are allowed, the event increases in value. Like front row seats at a football game, there fewer who can participate the more valuable the opportunity.
The human form contains the strongest of human emotions. These emotions can be transformed into value by reserving when and with whom they occur.
The body and fine art:
Art, like other industries such as science and medicine, benefits greatly from an understanding of the human body. For artists, this means better control in rendering realistic and believable images. This understanding then becomes a tool for creating beautiful things.
Just like a hammer can be used for creating beautiful things, like a house. At the same time, a hammer could be used for destructive things, like breaking a window.
Likewise an artist could destroy the value of special human emotions in the way they use their understanding of the human body. On the other hand, they can create beautiful and uplifting and inspiring art that still values the sacredness of human emotion.
So for me, it really depends who is using the knowledge and how they use it. I personally own some art books that have nude drawings, and they have been tremendously useful in understanding proportion and anatomy! But the models weren't displayed nude to evoke emotion or for admiration of their bodies, they were there to understand form. Like Leonardo's Vitruvian Man. This way their value (virtue?) was still maintained.
Those are my thoughts. I hope they help! Good luck!
