The evolution of the genre of the nude in art illustrated through 200 important works by major artists from the 19th century to the present.
The theme of the nude has always exercised a particular fascination on artists and viewers alike, and the representation of the human form has inspired some of the finest works in art history.
This volume, which aims to offer a fascinating visual survey of the nude, features over 200 paintings, sculptures and drawings-often celebrated masterpieces-and examines a period spanning over two hundred years. The book features works by the most important artists of the last two centuries including Canova, Ingres, Courbet, Cézanne, Klimt, Picasso, Magritte, Dalí, Giacometti, Bourgeois, Gormley, Abramovic, Acconci, Beecroft, and Barney.
The volume devoted to photography presents a selection of 200 extraordinary images that reflect the central role played by the genre of the nude in the history of photography and in its experimentation. Ever since the invention of photography in 1839 the nude has constituted a favorite subject among the practitioners of the medium. Through numerous extraordinary examples the volume documents the historical and stylistic development of the nude from its origins with the first daguerreotypes to the provocative images of contemporary photographers from Nadar, Stieglitz, Man Ray and Weston to Arbus, Mapplethorpe, Araki and Goldin.