FIGURATIVE PAINTING ART

NATURAL BEAUTY OF WOMAN IN ART

2011-12-31T23:55:00.003+05:30

Theme: Figurative paintings, Paintings of Women without clothes, Clothless Females and Males. Understanding the Paintings of natural beauty.

Painting speaks through the colours. And when these colours tell us about the natural beauty of women, they speak more artistically. The hidden tone of that telling mostly remains sensual pleasure. And that has remained one of the favourite subjects for the artists.

The New Perfume -by John William Godward

Here this is a painting of a woman coming out of her bath, the artist is John Godward. I have selected this to put here because it reminds me the Goddess of Love, Venus. Venus is inspiration of almost all the painters while they do figurative art, especially painting natural beauty of females.

THE FIGURATIVE ART: In the following articles, the journey would be in the beautiful field of figurative paintings. The artists shown in sidebar would be companions to the viewers who had interest in understanding the art of painting in general and the figurative art in particular. The artists here have tried injecting beauty into their paintings; and the lifeless canvases have become lively by the magical touches of bright and subdued colours of the master painters. They have used all the colours of rainbow to make male and female figures alive; they have left no hue untouched; they have left no tonal value unused.

Figurative Paintings Vs Photography: Looking to a fine art painting of natural beauty of human body is a respectable activity; whereas viewing similar photographs depicting merely skin-stock is not. We can say it like this: when the element of sex is removed from an artwork, it is fine art, enjoyable as an art piece.

A visit to a gallery showing such paintings could be an opportunity for assessing the artworks in their purely artistic terms. An artist or an art-lover who is educated into the art of painting would see figurative paintings in different perspectives, differently than those who look at such artworks out of curiosity or voyeurism only. In these paintings, the male or female would be in different positions, depicting beauties of human bodies as painted by the artists.

Art and Flesh : For a true art-lover the figurative art depicting in body of a male of female is a matter of delicate flesh tones. Here the body parts coloured by an artist is not for alluring the viewers' eyes, but it is depiction of the sophisticated composition that a painter has composed. Like a poet composes a poem; an artist also composes a painting of natural beauty of a male or female body. Words are the tools for a poet and a writer; the colours, canvas and brushes are the tools of a painter. The common source for all of such artists and poets and writers is the element of imagination.

Viewers' Response: When we look at any painting, we would certainly tend to compare it with other similar paintings we had seen in past. Thus the viewing of paintings of beautiful females would give us an opportunity for comparing it with other masterpieces. It would be a good reference to the other paintings.

Since the ages, the human body has remained a favourite model for the artists. While choosing a model for the art, an artist does it for a purpose. The painters choosing human bodies as their models have certain theories in their minds. Take the case of the paintings of Venus. The paintings of Venus, the Goddess of love, personify love and harmony. In many a paintings she is shown with Mars, the God of war. The idea behind such depiction is to show the efforts of love and the sense of harmony to restraint the impulse leading us to war. It is to pacify the warmonger living within us. (Image courtesy By John William Godward (1861–1922) Description British painter Date of birth/death 9 August 1861(1861-08-09) 13 December 1922(1922-12-13) Location of birth/death Wimbledon, London, England (Art Renewal Center Museum, image 10992) [public domain], from Wikimedia Commons)

ITALIAN FIGURATIVE PAINTERS

2010-12-09T19:47:00.007+05:30

Venus and Mars

The clan of artists is the citizens of the Republic of Art. They cannot have another designation. But some of the regions of the earth have contributed more to the general beauty of the art and stocks of the artworks. Among major claimants of the contributor countries, Italy can claim, perhaps, the foremost place. When we talk about art, we remember the land of Italy first. The city of Rome and Naples have contributed to the art of painting enormously. The artists who lived here have done their job so marvelously that the people of the art world in general and the Italians in particular would be proud of them. Here are the articles narrating the life and work of some of the Italian artists who mainly had done the figurative paintings.

Sandro Botticelli

Botticelli was the first artist who painted this epoch making painting of The Birth of Venus. It was the year 1482. After that the spirit of renaissance entered field of figurative art in its real sense. After the Birth of was Venus painted, the artist who desired painting natural beauty of female bodies have felt much freedom in the depiction of their imaginations.

Titian

Titian (1488 - 1576) had developed a style of his own that made his collection of paintings so priceless and popular, as during her artistic journey he had kept changing his style pf painting. The composition which were mainly diagonal, the brush strokes which were powerful, and the style of uploading a colour scheme: these were the special qualities making Titian a wonderful portrait painter.

Eugene de Blaas

Eugene de Blaas (1843 – 1932) had mostly painted portraits. His paintings mainly come under category of classicism. He was one of the recognized painters working under the style of painting known as academic style.

Francesco Hayez

Francesco was a romanticism artists. These artists had always respected the reality. But the period of romanticism had paid less attention to the aspects of idealism or reality. The artists following romanticism believed that the passion of love prevails over all the other things. While standing before their canvases, these painters would not confine their artistic passion into watertight compartments. [Images courtesy Sandro Botticelli [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons In the Water, Wikimedia Commons ]

Romanticism: Painting Love and Passion

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German landscape painter David Casper Friedrich infused the romantic element with allegories. For French painter William Bouguereau, the art of painting was a proper means to adore the beauty of women. The bare body females painted by him are like the representatives of freedom and love. He painted many canvases showing the natural beauty of women.

ROMANTICISM ARTISTS
Bouguereau: Painting Photo-Realistic Figures :
For Bouguereau the art of painting was an allegory. He had painted the movements of female body extremely beautiful. In many of his paintings, we can see the hips of a cloth-less woman swinging.
Here in this bare-body painting,The Wave, the charm and physical beauty of the woman competes with the strength of roaring waves of seawater. This painting is one of the most beautiful paintings done in photo realistic style.Bouguereau was pupil of Jacques-Louis David.

Picot: Painting Romantic Women : The artists like François-Édouard Picot (1786-1868) would not only look at the methods of paintings, they would try painting emotions through the brushes loaded with their artistic prowess. The play of boundless emotion would be the base, a romantic artist would consider as primary goal. Realistic approach or following the rules set by convention were not vital for these artists influenced by romanticism.

Theme: Romanticism Movement Painting Freedom and Emotions

The painting of human form is ancient one. But we can say that the days of pictorial composition had taken it full fight during the period of renaissance. The artists after that era started working with a method. That gave bestowed much respect to the art of painting in general and the figurative painting in particular.

Leda and Swan -by Picot

It is Greek Mythology that Zeus had come to Leda in shape of a swan. and Leda had given birth to Helen, the daughter of Zeus even if she was not his wife. The above painting is depiction of that mythological story in a romantic style of painting.
Disciple of the master painter like Jacques-Louis David and teacher of the photo realistic artist William Adolf Bouguereau, Picot was a person who painted the sensual female figures. Here in this painting ‘Leda and Swan', he has depicted a mythological story of love of a woman Leda and a bird the Swan. The subject is a mythological one, but the theme of the painting is to show the romantic gestures of a cloth-less female figure. On seeing the painting 'Leda and Swan' we see how the bare bodied female feels it comfortable in that position. This depicts that the the artist was free of conventions showing suppression on the face of a woman sitting so cloth-less.
The romantic artists saw how the figure could be showing emotions and how far the basic elements like emotions were revealed on canvas. Later the romantic painters like Bouguereau searched for infusing the beauty of the form into the painting. (Image courtesy By François-Édouard Picot (1786–1868) Date of birth/death 17 October 1786(1786-10-17) 15 March 1868(1868-03-15) Location of birth/death Paris Paris Work period ca. 1813-1868 Work location Paris [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons)

Jacques-Louis David Painting Cloth-less man :
David: If we prepare a list of the painters attached with neoclassicism movement, the name of David, Jacques-Louis David, would come on top. He is believed to be the true founder of French Neoclassicism movement of the art of painting. His pictorial representations possessed the features ofsculptures; and his colours on the paintings were smooth looking.

American Artists : Painting Women : I
n this painting Fantasia, Brazilian artist Antonio Parreiras has depicted his control over the use of limited palette and the use of brush strokes. Here the model woman is working without wearing clothes. She is doing some artwork on an earthen pot. She looks comfortable in sitting and doing work, even there is no single clothes on.

Romanticism Artists Painting Cloth-less Women :

Theme: Romanticism Artists Painting Emotions and Freedom of Expression through Landscapes and Clothe-less men and Women Figures

In ordinary life we use the words ‘Romantic’ or ‘Romanticism’ in its general sense. But while we talk about the movements of arts which have kept the world of art so alive, these words refer to a specific meaning. If we think in larger perspective, the word ‘Romanticism’ reminds us the concept that leads artists to show sentiments and inner feelings.

Ballerina Carlotta Chabert as Venus -by Francesco Hayez

Realism Vs Romanticism

Artists have always respected the reality. But the period of romanticism had paid less attention to the aspects of idealism or reality. The artists following romanticism believed that the passion of love prevails over all the other things. While standing before their canvases, these painters would not confine their artistic passion into watertight compartments.

Freedom of Expression in Art: The artists value the freedom of expression as a major factor. While painting their art pieces, these artists flying on the wings of their imaginations would ignore most of the social norms. They would keep their eyes blinded for the set of rules written by convention. During eighteenth and nineteenth century, the Romanticism movement in art sector provided them extensive opportunity. These artists crossed all the boulders blocking their path and endeavoured to reclaim the artistic freedom. The romanticism artists like Ingress loaded their brushes with the colours of free play of emotion. They gave free hand to their imaginative powers.

Romantic Painters Searching New Perspectives: The romantic artists were on a journey searching for the new aspects of human nature and the elements that shape our personality. They would choose their subjects according to their imagination. Thereafter they would infuse those imaginations into the figures and objects they painted. Being fascinated by the beauty of nature, romanticism movement has created many good landscape painters. {Image courtesy By Francesco Hayez (1791–1882) Description Italian painter Date of birth/death 11 February 1791(1791-02-11) 11 February 1882(1882-02-11) Location of birth/death Venice Milan Work location Milan, Venice, Rome [null], from Wikimedia Commons ]

T
hey were not unrealistic in every respect. The paintings done in the romantic style had given much space to the element of nationalism, too. This factor made them feeling themselves attached with the ground reality. If we see the paintings done my French artists, we should not miss noticing praise of Napoleon in those artworks. Paintings of Spanish artist Goya showed horror of war as one of his prime subjects.Thus these paintings also carry a nationalistic spirit. [ Image courtesy By William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825–1905) Alternative names Bouguereau, Adolphe-William Description French painter Date of birth/death 30 November 1825(1825-11-30) 19 August 1905(1905-08-19) Location of birth/death La Rochelle La Rochelle [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons ]

French Artists: Painting Sensual Skin

2010-07-21T13:38:00.018+05:30

The art is owned universally; and once a painting is completed, it is dislocated from the space and time. However it is beyond doubt that the most valuable treasure of a country is the collection of the paintings it owns. In that matter the French artists have spared no effort to make their country so wealthy. France in general and the city of Paris in particular have been the place an artist living anywhere in the world would love to visit. Since the days of renaissance, French painters have tried doing their best in the field of art of painting and other arts. Here are some articles about some of the painters who lived in France.

Evening Mood, -by Bouguereau 1882

William Adolphe Bouguereau : He was an artist who painted the human figures as realistically as possible. There is a class of artists and art lovers who believe since ages that a realistic figurative painting would be suggestive of some undesired element attached with the corporeal desires. If we look at the paintings by Bouguereau, we would tend to go away from this belief.

Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841 – 1919) : Renoir was a master in the impressionist style that celebrated beauty from whatever elements he might come across. He had painted several beautiful portraits adoring the charm of the models sitting before him. Renoir had always depicted great creativity in his paintings. High-breasted woman, with heavy bottom, and small head looking like a young girl: perhaps this was what Renoir was in search of in his models. He got it. Gabrielle Renard had all in her body that he wanted; she was nurse of his children.

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (1780 –1867) was a French Neoclassical painter. His paintings suggest that he had tilted his work towards romanticism movement of painting. As may other struggling artists, Ingress had also depended on the income received from miscellaneous pencil drawings he did for the tourists, for a period.

Francois Boucher was one of the most celebrated decorative artists of his time. His artwork was mainly in the Rococo style, showing his painterly prowess in portrait paintings and executing the beautiful landscapes. Boucher had got inspiration from the works by master artists like Watteau and Rubens.

Jacques-Louis David: If we prepare a list of the painters attached with neoclassicism movement, the name of David, would come on top. He is believed to be the true founder of French Neoclassicism movement of the art of painting. His pictorial representations possessed the features of sculptures; and his colours on the paintings were smooth looking. He was pioneer of the movement of romanticism.

Edouard Manet : Manet (1832-1883), was one of the artists who painted modern-life subjects in nineteenth century. Manet played a greater role in the movement of the art. He helped the transition from realism to the impressionism.

Edgar Degas : Unlike other impressionist painters of his time and the other artists with whom he worked, Edgar Degas preferred working indoors. He depended upon his memory and the female models that he called to appear in his studio. In case of landscapes, too, he had repeated the subjects very often, doing certain variation of colour scheme here or the positioning the subjects there.

Pierre-Paul Prudhon: He was a French painter whom Napoleon and his wife, Joséphine had commissioned. He was an artists wedded to the romantic style of painting. His paintings and drawings are like a connecting bridge between the neo-classicism of David and the Romanticism painting.

Leon Jean BasilePerrault:

Leon

was a painter who had mastered the art of painting the children. There are several masterpieces he painted were involving children as main subject on canvas. He earned credit of being a painter of children of his time. After he painted le petit naufrage (The little shipwrecked boy, 1874), he became a famous painter in

France

François-Edouard Picot (1786-1868): Artists like Picot would not only look at the methods of paintings, they would try painting emotions through the brushes loaded with their artistic prowess. The play of boundless emotion would be the base, a romantic artist would consider as primary goal. (Image courtesy By William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825–1905) Alternative names Bouguereau, Adolphe-William Description French painter Date of birth/death 30 November 1825(1825-11-30) 19 August 1905(1905-08-19) Location of birth/death La Rochelle La Rochelle [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons)

How to Paint Women Without Clothes and Bathing Women

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Bathing Women, Old Pattern: When we think about the paintings of a female in her natural beauty, we immediately make out a mental picture in our minds. We start guessing that there would be a voluptuous body of a woman, a female body sitting or sleeping with full of her femininity.

Some imaginative souls would also go further and conjure up a bed that would be decorated with creases of bed-sheet and a reclined woman would hold a mirror in her hand.

These were the attitudes of general viewers of art. But with the passing of time and change of artistic attitudes of artists in the filed of painting, this art of painting natural beauty of females have undergone a drastic change. This painting of three women is a sufficient evidence of the change we are referring to.

Two Bathers -by William Bouguereau

Bathing Women, New Pattern: After the onslaught of new ideas about human psychology given by Sigmund Freud, the depiction of men and women without clothes has become acceptable among the people. Resultantly the mindset of the artists showing various aspects attached with the figurative painting has changed considerably. The clan of artists of twentieth century has proved itself a bolder one than the previous painters. Painters like Picasso have paved a totally different way. Their themes have become richer and the depiction of passion deeper.

When a master artist takes brushes and palate in hand, his thinking would not be limited to only the technical aspects of painting. He contemplates about the things which would make the painting a visual image of beauty. He would dream about a situation; conceiving in his mind the map of the scene to be recreated; and finally he would consider about infusing the feel of air the frame should possess.

Artemisia Gentileschi : Painting Cloth-less women, Susanna and Elders

It was not a positive period for women artists. Nor the paintings of women wearing no clothes were seen with an affirmative attitude. There emerged a woman artist in Italy, Artemisia Gentileschi (1593 - 1652). She would cross all the hurdles on her artistic career.

Susanna and Elders

Born in the home where art had much respect, as her father was an artist, Artemisia Gentileschi carved out her career in the exclusively mail dominated art field of post renaissance period. She would not limit her canvases painting portraits of imitating other artists, but she took the challenge of depicting mythology and history. Some of her paintings were based on religious scene, too.

In this painting Susanna and Elders, Artemisia had infused the tension a woman would feel at such an event, the event posing grave attack on her woman hood. A woman wearing no clothes, or a woman just coming out of bath feels herself vulnerable. That vulnerability speaks in loud letters when faced by two attacking men. These men had come to satisfy their corporeal desires and insult Susanna in every manner a man can insult a woman.

The artist Artemisia, being a woman can realize how a lady would feel under such circumstances. She had very well depicted the bodily and psychic fear on encountered by Susanna.

Life of Artemisia

One of the most talented women artists of the world, Artemisia, had advantage that she was daughter of a great painter Orazio Gentileschi. But that fact also went in her disfavour, as after her death, her paintings were attributed to her father. However after passing over the time, she got her due acknowledgement.

This paintings is her self portrait. She had done it as female martyr. she had depicted the emotional state of a woman when she are being victimizer and when a woman is martyred. Artemisia was good at painting powerful women, the women who would rebel against the male evildoers.

[Images courtesy Suanna and Elders, Wikimedia Commons, and Self-portrait of Artemisia Wikipedia Commons. ]

Bath House Culture in Europe

Theme: Paintings of Natural Beauty of Females. Paintings of Female Bathers. Genre Painting, The Genre Artists Painting The City Culture.

EARLY EUROPEAN BATH HOUSES by- Jean Leon Gerome

The genre paintings have gone through constant change. It has occurred due to the change of lifestyle of the people and accepting newer themes of paintings by the artists. The art of genre painting has developed through these changes. It has got new work and the fresh perspectives with the passing of time. The painters of America and Europe have influenced the changes in choice of the subjects of genre paintings. These artists have depicted novel ideas and latest techniques, with keen observation of the environment and the people living in it.

With the change of the life style of the common people, to, the bath house culture had evolved. These houses were the places where families would go for bathing. The culture of doing sexual actions on the side of a bath-pool was not developed yet; and the company of cloth-less women and men were considered as an explosive mix. People would go in flocks, taking friends and children with them. There were separate baths for men and women. The bath houses meant for women were staffed by the female servants only. No man was allowed where the women wearing no clothes would be bathing.

The Art: In the above painting, we can see one of such bath-houses where the women bathers are enjoying their bath along with friends. The artists, Jean-Léon Gérôme, had skillfully depicted the natural beauty of females, bathing and cleansing their bodies. Here we can see the absence of dramatic scenes, as all the acts of these females look natural.

PAINTINGS OF BATHING WOMEN

(Images courtesy By William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825–1905) Alternative names Bouguereau, Adolphe-William Description French painter Date of birth/death 30 November 1825(1825-11-30) 19 August 1905(1905-08-19) Location of birth/death La Rochelle La Rochelle (public) [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons , Bath House Courtesy by Wikimedia Commons )

RUSSIAN ARTIST: Painting Woman Without Clothes

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When I was taking lessons in painting during my college days, I had special leaning for the figurative drawings and painting. I would love to see people painted doing any activity: the men and women painted walking on seashore, women with fans and hats, the children playing their innocent games. These were the forms artists wish to paint. These figures help us studying the human form of the male and female figures.

Russian Venus -by Boris Kustodiev

In addition to the symmetrically drawn and painted anatomy of the figures, the artists would care much about the outfits of the men and women they paint. Starting from the renaissance time, the painting of cloth-less bodies of females and males has been a preferred theme for paintings. The women painted without clothes would attract the attention of more viewers. In recent times the paintings of women wearing bikini or swimsuits are also getting more artistic acclamation.

Many artists have tried not to embarrass the viewers’ eyes by ignoring convention. It is because most of the artists wish to engage the viewers in aesthetic side of the painting and not other aspects like voyeurism or eroticism. However when we see the painting or sculptures of Venus cupping hand on her womanhood, we would not assume an element of modesty in the artwork.

In the above painting of Venus, the Russian artist Boris Kustodiev (1878-1927) had tried to go with the convention by arranging a bunch of leaves in the hand of the Venus. She is trying to hide her womanhood, the vagina, by placing the green leaves. Venus is the Goddess of love, so most of the artists loving figurative painting have tried painting her. Boris Kustodiev has done his artistic duty very well. Here the above female figure is painted without clothes. Attractive part is the colour used in depicting skin and the marvellous use of brush strokes in painting the long hair of Venus.

Portrait of Renee Notgaft

In the painting titled as Portrait of Renee Notgaft, he had tried showing the modesty of a woman. Here the lady looks confident about her neat beauty and stature. Boris Kustodiev has used the colours matching the status of the lady.

Imagine a boy whose father is a teacher in Grammar School. Imagine him studying theology in his youth. And finally he became a well-known painter of Russia. Yes, the boy was Boris Kustodiev and he was born in Astrakhan, Russia. He became a painter of deep thinking after taking education in St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. His works of art witness his careful study of nature. Such were his landscape paintings. The figurative painting depicted his prowess in painting the beauty of human body and the contours. His colours were vivid; his paintings were high-spirited, spreading cheers among the viewers and the art lovers. (Image of Renee courtesy Wikimedia Commons) (Image at top courtesy By Boris Mikhailovich Kustodiev (1878–1927) Alternative names Кустодиев Борис Михайлович; Kustodiew; Kustodijew Date of birth/death 7 March 1878(1878-03-07) 28 May 1927(1927-05-28) Location of birth/death Astrakhan, Russia / Астрахань, Россия Leningrad, Soviet Union / Ленинград, СССР [null], from Wikimedia Commons )

Jacques-Louis David: Painting Cloth-less Male

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Theme: Paintings of Cloth-less Male by romanticism artists

This is one of the early neoclassical works by Jacques-Louis David. The painting of Petroclus was created in the year 1780. It is now displayed in the Musee Thomas Henry in Cherbourg,

France

PATROCLUS Oil on Canvas –byJacques-Louis David.

The Art: The painting of a man without clothes is the symbol of robust power the male figure contains. The painter David has taken much care to radiate the stock of strength from a well-built body. He had used light and shades of vibrant colours. Putting of the un-detailed and rough rocks in background of the sturdy and muscular male figure gives us the feel of strength and power.

David had deviated considerably from his early style of neoclassicism. He would use the colours and the effects of light in Venetian style. The portraits done by him were superb in lines and designs. We could have a feel of seeing a painting done in realistic style, while we see his portraits shown as above. However his paintings were pioneer of the movement that would be called romanticism in the coming years.(Images Courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

The Artist: If we prepare a list of the painters attached with Neoclassicism movement, the name of David, Jacques-Louis David, would come on top. He is believed to be the true founder of French Neoclassicism movement of the art of painting. His pictorial representations possessed the features of sculptures; and his colours on the paintings were smooth looking. David had learnt some aspects of the art of paintings from the master painters like Boucher and Vien. Before he switched over his style of painting to his own, he was influenced by the work of his teachers. His works had become more sensual afterwards.

OTHER ROMANTICISM PAINTINGS

The artists like François-Édouard Picot (1786-1868) would not only look at the methods of paintings, they would try painting emotions through the brushes loaded with their artistic prowess. The painting L'Amour et Psyché by François-Édouard Picot (1817) is one of the most famous paintings.

The play of boundless emotion would be the base, a romantic artist would consider as primary goal.

The Wave:

For Bouguereau the art of painting was an allegory. He had painted the movements of female body extremely beautiful. In many of his paintings, we can see the hips of a cloth-less woman swinging.
Here in this bare-body painting, The Wave, the charm and physical beauty of the woman competes with the strength of roaring waves of seawater. This painting The Wave is perhaps one of the most beautiful paintings done in the photo realistic style of painting.Bouguereau was pupil of Jacques-Louis David.

Artists Painting Messages, Changing Tradition and Philosophy of the Time

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Figurative painting reflects deep understanding of the artists, as it is depiction of anatomy of human body. It is an endeavour to recreate the psyche of the person painted or portrayed. A painter does so using artistic skill. Master artists do so in the gentlest manner possible, as figurative painting would also require recreations of some of the gestures of models. By doing so, a painter forges the reputation as an artist.

Bathsheba at Her Bath (Bathsheba with King David's Letter)

While painting a figure, an artist tries showing the emotions through such paintings. However the figurative painting in general and painting of men and women without clothes in particular have remained a bone of contention since ancient time. Whether they are rulers, politicians, scholars or religious leaders, all have opposed depicting cloth-less human bodies from time to time. But the clan of the artists desiring to recreate the beauty of human form on their canvas have never bowed down to any social pressure. They have used their artistic prowess to adore the beauty of male and female figures on papers, on canvasses and on the altars of temples and churches.

If we look at the paintings done by artists like Rembrandt or Rossetti, we feel that the figures painted seem desiring to create a bridge between the viewers on one hand and the painting on another. It is deep wishes of all the artists to appeal heads and hearts of those who see their artworks. Figurative painters have better options to do it nicely, as they deal with recreating the real human beings on canvases. [Image courtesyRembrandt [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons ]

Sometimes the so-called social police ask the artists about the purpose of their selecting the cloth-less women as subject the depiction of their art. The main motive of the artists to paint women without clothes is to spread the message of love and peace, as the women represent both of the passions.

Look at the above painting by Rembrandt. It seems that, through this painting Bathsheba, the artist had a desire to build a bridge between his imagination and the eyes of viewers. Artists always want to be connected with art lovers. Whey and artist selects a cloth-less woman as a subject of painting like above painting, he or she tries showing the feeling of love and sense of harmony. These two aspects restrain the passion of violence embedded within us; the aggressiveness that leads us to war and destruction.

American Artists Painting Women Cloth-less

Theme: Paintings of Females in Natural Beauty. Painting Cloth-less Women With Free Brush Strokes

Fantasia by Antônio Parreiras (1869-1937)

The Artist: Antonio Parreiras (1860–1937) was a Brazilian painter. To his credit, he has historical artworks and paintings of females painted in their natural beauty. Under influence of European artists, he had done landscape painting, too. He painted beautiful natural scenes applying European style of painting. He had added Brazilian flavour into his artworks. He was fortunate enough to meet and learn from a master painter from Germany, George Grimm; and from him Antonio had learnt valuable lessons in landscape painting.

The Art: In one of his paintings, titled as ‘Fantasia’, shown above, Antonio has depicted his clever control over the use of limited palette and the use of brush strokes. In this painting the model, a woman sitting wearing no clothes, is working in her natural beauty. She is shown doing some art work on an earthen pot. She looks comfortable in sitting and doing the work despite she is sitting without wearing clothes. In his later career Antonio Parreiras keenly observed the nature before painting any canvas. The eye-catching feature of his paintings is the skilful use of free brush strokes. His paintings are decorated with artistic luminosity.

The main feature that would attract our eyes is the factor of lighting. The falling of light is masterly depicted by painting the backside of the lady. The backside is painted in dark yellow. Use of light green on wall and the folds of drapery have done required blending of colours. If some of the paintings of females in their natural beauty are to be called ‘The Artistic Paintings’, this painting has better claim to get the nomination for the same.

Depiction of Femininity: In the paintings done by Antonio Parreiras, we can see the femininity of the women in its full swing. But the insecurity that a woman would wear on her face while sitting so cloth-less is missing. Every model looks feeling comfortable, even if she is sitting so cloth-less. Women are shown engaged in their works. Various objects are lying in the immediate surrounding, but the women painted seem taking no notice of anything.

The females painted by Antônio Parreiras are the representatives of aesthetic beauty, conforming to the taste and preferences of the art lovers. Here in this beautiful painting, Iracema, Oil on Canvas, the main purpose of the artist seems to depict the pure art itself; and not mere a show of the parts of female body, claiming voyeuristic gazes from the viewers.

The paintings done by artists like Botticelli, Rembrandt, William Bouguereau, PaulGauguin, or John Godward are considered important as the major links to the history of art. It is because the artists like them have worked when the whole society stood on a crossroad.

When artists function in a time that would decide the future of coming generations, such artists would play a consolidating role in many aspects. They help changing the age-old traditions and the outdated philosophy of the time. (Image courtesy By Antônio Parreiras (1869-1937) Antônio Parreiras (1860–1937) Alternative names Antônio Diogo da Silva Parreiras Description Brazilian painter Date of birth/death 20 January 1860(1860-01-20) 17 October 1937(1937-10-17) Location of birth/death Niterói, Brazil Niterói, Brazil Work location Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Niterói, Teresópolis, Belo Horizonte; Italy: Venice; Spain: Barcelona (Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo) [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons)

JOHN GODWARD: Painting Women Unclothed

2010-04-23T13:09:00.023+05:30

Theme: Paintings of Clothe-less Women.

John William Godward (1861 – 1922) was a British painter. When we look at the collection of his paintings, we would not miss noticing the neoclassical costumes. The women in his painting would wear these costumes and the artists would paint it with precision keeping particular era in mind.

Among his paintings there are masterpieces that depict women in their natural beauty. Unclothed woman was Godward’s favourite subject after he had acquired mastery over the art of painting. In his painting we can see the influence of the paintings of Frederick Leighton. On of the worth mentioning paintings done by Godward is The Tepidarium.

Tapidarium is a bathing place where the floor or the walls get heating. It was customary in ancient Rome to enjoy bathing in such a tepidarium. Many artists have taken this subject for painting. Painting by Lawrence Alma Tadema was based on this theme.

In the Tepidarium -by John William Godward, ( 1913)

If we look at the painting Tepidarium by Godward, we can see that he has shown more than the ancient bathing system. Like other unclothed or semi-clothed women painted by him, here the fully unclothed woman seems coming out of her bath. The vibrant red colour used to enhance the sensual element of the women figure has done its job. There has been a trend to paint classical themes during the late Victorian period.

The subjects chosen by Godward reflect the influence of that trend. For that reason he is called one of the great painters of Victorian Neo-classicist artists. Other important aspects are the things lying in the surround, creating the feel of a particular atmosphere. The quality of drapery or the high valuable things like jewelleries and golden ornaments add to the characteristics of the class to which the women belong.

In John William Godward's painting shown here, the painting titled as Athenais (1908) was a notable one. Look at the vibrant use of red and transparent red colour. The natural scene painted in the backside of the standing woman adds to the grace of the figure itself. Today this painting is in private collection.

Athenais (1908)

Godward’s choice of subject matter was more properly that of the Victorian Neo-classicist. He had kept his palette a vibrantly colourful on. In his paintings, there would be supporting presence of landscapes. His female figures are generally posed against landscape features. From his artworks and the dresses he painted, we can very well assume that John Godward had painted under the influence of the artists of Classical Greeko-Roman style of painting.

Painting of a woman wearing no clothes would not be a task to be done in its utter isolation. There would be several ancillary aspects like the things in the surrounding. The environment played a role in creating overall effect. There are artists who paint women doing nothing and just sitting or reclining. But many artists prefer to assign some job to these beautiful women, the job like reading, knitting, doing any artwork or crying.

The things like irregularly stretched bed sheets or tumbled glass of wine would add to the sensuality of the events that has just happened. [Images courtesy, In the Tapidarium By John William Godward (1861–1922) Description British painter Date of birth/death 9 August 1861(1861-08-09) 13 December 1922(1922-12-13) Location of birth Wimbledon, London, England (Art Renewal Center Museum, image 11088) [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons , Athenise By John William Godward (1861–1922) Description British painter Date of birth/death 9 August 1861(1861-08-09) 13 December 1922(1922-12-13) Location of birth Wimbledon, London, England (Art Renewal Center Museum, image 11634) [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons ]

Figurative Painting: Beach Bathing, Women Unclothed

2010-04-22T11:04:00.038+05:30

It is a time honoured tradition to bath on a beach. The beach lovers prefer cloth-less bathing in seawater, especially in the hot summer days. These beach people, perhaps, feel that the shedding of clothes as shedding of their boredom. But the artists find these events of bathing as a tantalizing source. The men and women wandering in Bermuda shorts and bikinis have always been favourite subjects for them; and in summer vacations they run at beach locations with their pen, pencils and palates of colours.

Figurative Painting: Beach Figures, Women Bathing, originally uploaded by mariefox.

Here in this painting, the artist has depicted such an exotic location. Four women are in trendy bathing suits displaying their skin stocks, resting after having a tanning time. Relax is the mood; youth is the character of the partly clothed women.

The Art: No artist would miss using his or her skill at best level while working on such an alluring setting. Look at the colours used for the women sitting under an umbrella. Their bathing suits are painted in cool colours in contrast of the bright colour used for the woman sitting under the sun. The colours are used to show the moods and the temper of the beautiful babes sitting on a net. The cool colour of the sky and seawater make all the semi-clothed women figures looking so outstanding.

It is the skill of an artist to put a focal point in an artwork, drawing the viewers eyes there. Here the focal point is the blue colour bathing suit of the woman sitting in center of the frame. the viewers would keep roaming their eyes all over the painting and would frequently come on the focal point. At and around the focal point, we can see the meaningful details attracting our senses.

OTHER SEASHORE PAINTINGS

The Wave

For Bouguereau the art of painting was an allegory. He had painted the movements of female body extremely beautiful. In many of his paintings, we can see the hips of a cloth-less woman swinging.
Here in this bare-body painting, The Wave, the charm and physical beauty of the woman competes with the strength of roaring waves of seawater. This painting The Wave is one of the most beautiful paintings done in photo realistic style of painting by Adolf Bouguereau.

In one of his paintings, A Water Nymph, Leon Perrault has depicted his mastery over selection of colour schemes. His brushes look soft not to give a slightest paint to the smooth surface of the subject he painted. And the subject was a beautiful woman who is posed as Water Nymph. To see evidence of the subtlety of his brush, just look at the back of the woman who had posed so unclothed. You will find how subtle was the artist's hand who painted the skin folds of a woman who was so unclothed, so in the state of her natural beauty.

GIOVANNI BELLINI: Painting Seated Cloth-less Woman

2010-04-18T19:44:00.012+05:30

Theme: Painting seated women, depicting grace and modesty of women in natural beauty.

Cloth-less Young Woman in Front of the Mirror

--by Giovanni Bellini

The painting of a female without clothes is always subjected to the painter’s own interpretations, so far as her depicted form is concerned. Even the postures of the female models tell inherent tales; even the moods revealed by the postures and the gestures of the bare-body female model depicted in the painting tend to be an exclusive interpretation of the artist. READ FURTHER>>>

FREDERICK LEIGHTON: Painting Skin Tones of Females and Males

2010-04-18T14:24:00.017+05:30

Theme: Painters of Victorian Age. Paintings of Cloth-less Men and Women in Victorian Era.

The figurative painting as a genre and the figurative painters as a class of artists have never been sailing easily. They faced a lot at the hands of religious heads, the rulers, general public, and some sections of the art-lovers, too. But the genre has not only survived; it has flourished. And the artist like Frederick Leighton had made it so thriving along with others; as his paintings revealed the true spirit of Victorian period, taking pride in painting the events of ancient Greece and Rome.

Icarus and Daedalus

Frederick Leighton (1830 - 1896) was a British painter. His paintings covered variety of subject ranging from depiction of historical event to the biblical mythology. He had painted many frames that can be stamped as classical paintings, too. Queen Victoria was among those who praised and purchased Frederick’s paintings. The painting Icarus and Daedalus had been one of the most famous artworks by him. It is based on the mythological story of Daedalus.

Moreover Frederick would also choose subject that could bear the sensual appeal to the eyes of the viewers. Such variety of subject has mad his style of painting so simple and his reputation as artist a going high. The painting Actaea depicted the cloth-less woman, a nymph, reclining on her bedsheets-like clothe on a seashore. In Greek mythology, the nymphs are the female spirits. These nymphs have remained subject of choice of many painters who desired to paint sensual skin. Here the artists also wants to show the power of the female figure putting it before the viewers' eyes.

Figurative painting reflects the deep understanding of the artists, as it is depiction of the anatomy of the human body. In addition to that an artist tries to show the emotions through such paintings, as it could reveal the psyche of the person painted or portrayed, too. The master artists do so in the gentlest manner possible, as figurative painting would also require recreations of the gestures of the model.

By doing so, a painter forges his or her reputation as an artist. [Images courtesy By Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton (1830–1896) Description British painter Date of birth/death 3 December 1830(1830-12-03) 25 January 1896(1896-01-25) Location of birth/death English: Scarborough, England London Work period ca. 1855-1896 Work location London (Art Renewal Center Museum, image 312.) [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons , Actane By Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton (1830–1896) Description British painter Date of birth/death 3 December 1830(1830-12-03) 25 January 1896(1896-01-25) Location of birth/death English: Scarborough, England London Work period ca. 1855-1896 Work location London (artrenewal,)[see page for license], from Wikimedia Commons]

PAINTING VENUS: The Goddess of Love

2010-04-15T12:09:00.025+05:30

Theme: Paintings of Natural beauty, Painting Venus, Artistic Female Paintings,

Birth Of Venus -by Botticelli (1482- 1486). Tempera on Canvas

Painting the natural beauty of human's male and female body was not a taboo in the ancient time. But with the rising spread of religions like Judaism and Christianity, and other orthodox groups, the artists were not encouraged to do that job. they were also discouraged for painting the bodies of females without clothes. We can categorically say that the painting of natural beauty of woman was doomed to virtual anonymity. Such a period lasted for one thousand and five hundred years. The flow of artistic depiction through the paintings of natural beauty of female body was dammed. But this dam was burst by one Italian painter: Sandro Botticelli.

PAINTING WOMEN WITHOUT CLOTHES

Sandro Botticelli was the man who painted this epoch making paintings of The Birth of Venus in the year 1482. With this incident, the spirit of renaissance entered the field of figurative art in its real sense. It was the time of fifteenth century. After the Birth of was Venus painted, the artist who desired painting natural beauty of human bodies, particularly of the females, have never looked back. The painters of the next era painted and adored the beauty of human body, male and female alike. (Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

The artist like Botticelli would paint the Birth of Venus and pave the way for other artists repeating the theme. In ancient time, the depiction of natural beauty of male and female body was not a taboo. But some religious thoughts made a difference. With the rising spread of religions like Judaism and Christianity, and other orthodox groups, the painter and sculptors were discouraged to use the bare body as their subject. Due to certain beliefs against showing of genitals of men and women in art pieces, the field of art started neglecting the theme of painting bare body. I would say that the depiction of natural beauty of woman was doomed to virtual anonymity. Here are some of the master painters who had painted Venus.

To understand a painting done by master artist is an act of showing deep interest in the art itself. The skill and dexterity of the artists plays a great role in making a painting so interesting. Let us take the example of a painting titled as ‘Rubens Venus at Mirror’, the above image. This is painted by Peter Paul Rubens (1613). This painting is displayed in Liechtenstein Museum in Vienna. To describe the paintings done by Rubens, a special word was devised: 'Rubenesque'. This word symbolized the paintings of women with heavy waist and ample bodied. Rubens would paint a woman model in her natural beauty with voluptuousness and putting dimples on her flesh. His paintings had an aroma of counter revolutionary spirit. As an advocate of an extravagant Baroque, Rubens had emphasized the movements, the colors, and sensuality in his paintings. His subjects varied from historical paintings to mythological stories.

Here Titian has painted the Goddess of Love Venus. It is believed that Venus was been born from a shell, the sea shell. So that aspect is depicted here imaging that Venus rising from the shell and drying her wet hair. The Titian seems to have borrowed the theme of this painting from earlier paintings of Venus. Many master artists had done similar paintings before Ingres.

Venus Anadyomene

We can see the sideway glance and presence of shell, though symbolically, are the proof of such borrowing. If we look at the other technical aspects of this painting, we can say that Titian had mastered the use of yellow in all of its shades and hues. In Venus Anadyomene he has used it to show the glowing flesh of Venus.

In this painting of Venus, the Russian artist Boris Kustodiev (1878-1927) had tried to go with the convention by arranging a bunch of leaves in the hand of the Venus. She is trying to hide her womanhood, the vagina, by placing the green leaves. Venus is the Goddess of love, so most of the artists loving figurative painting have tried painting her. Boris Kustodiev has done his artistic duty very well. Here the female figure is painted without clothes, but the attractive part of the frame is the colour used in depicting skin and the marvellous use of brush strokes in painting the long hair of Venus.

The Birth of Venus

In this painting, The Birth of Venus, Bouguereau had shown his natural instinct and the technical knowledge of the contours of the nude female body. A human body, especially a female nude, attracts the viewers’ eyes by the balanced proportions. And this regard Bouguereau had acquired artistic inspiration from the artists of sixteenth century.

This period of anonymity for painting clothe-less females and males lasted almost for one thousand years. During this period, the flow of artistic depiction through the paintings of beauty of female and male body was dammed. But the painting done by The Birth of Venus, by Botticelli in the year 1482 started a new era in figurative painting. After this incident, the trend was set. Artists were no longer shy about choosing the subject of cloth-less women. (All the images courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

Perhaps no other artwork, painting or sculpture, has attracted the artists as the paintings of women without clothes. And while an artist wants painting a lady without dress, he or she would remember Venus, The Goddess of Love, first. Whenever an artist wants to depict sensual skin or adore female body, he/she has naturally reverted painting Venus, the Goddess of Love. Looking at the Venus, the first thing that would spark in our mind would be the unmatched beauty of the female body. And the artists have loved to depict the same beauty in various ways and through many techniques.

TITIAN : Painting Natural Beauty of Female Figures

2010-04-14T11:59:00.015+05:30

Paintings of Venus. Painting sensual Skin

The birth date of Titian is not certain, it is believed to be between 1477 to 1495. But he was the painter who used the newly found 'oil colours' to its fullest use. He painted portraits, commissioned paintings and paintings with mythological subjects, especially as altarpieces.

Venus Anadyomene

Paintings of female in their natural beauty have been the most sought after theme of artworks. This subject is darling of the artists from ancient time. Since the ages, the human body has remained a favourite model for the artists depicting beauty, as while choosing a model for figurative art, an they do it for a purpose.

The Art: painters choosing human bodies as their models have certain theories in their minds. Take the case of the paintings of Venus. All the artworks depicting Venus, the Goddess of love, personify love and harmony. In several paintings Venus is painted with Mars, who is God of war. Thinking behind such depiction is to send a message. Here the visual communication by an artist shows the power of love and the sense of harmony for restraining the impulse that leads us to war. It is to pacify the warmonger that lives within humans.

The Artist: Titian had developed a style of his own that made his collection of paintings so priceless and popular, too. His composition which were mainly diagonal, his brush strokes which were powerful, and his style of uploading his colour scheme: these were the special qualities making him a wonderful portrait painter. Here Titian has painted the Goddess of Love Venus. It is believed that Venus was been born from a shell, the sea shell. So that aspect is depicted here imaging that Venus rising from the shell and drying her wet hair. The Titian seems to have borrowed the theme of this painting from earlier paintings of Venus. Many master artists had done similar paintings before Ingres. We can see the sideway glance and presence of shell, though symbolically, are the proof of such borrowing.

If we look at the other technical aspects of this painting, we can say that Titian had mastered the use of yellow in all of its shades and hues. In Venus Anadyomene he has used it to show the glowing flesh of Venus. This painting, Oil on canvas, 75.8 x 57.6 cm. is presently in National Art Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh Scotland.

Here is another painting by Titian. Here the lady is painted in her natural beauty. Her reclining posture adds to the sensuality of her beauty in general and the skin in particular. Here again we can see that titian has used the yellow colour at its best use. In addition to this, the diagonal composition adds the seductiveness of the figure.

Portrait of Veronica Franco (Images courtesy By Titian Alternative names Tiziano Vecelli; Tiziano Vecellio Description Italian painter, fresco painter and draughtsman Date of birth/death between 1485(1485) and 1490(1490) 27 August 1576(1576-08-27) Location of birth/death Pieve di Cadore Venice Work location Venice (1498), Ferrara, Mantua, Padua (1511), Milan (1540), Rome (1545-1546), Florence (1546), Augsburg (1548, 1550-1551)[see page for license], from Wikimedia Commons , Image At TopBy Titian Alternative names Tiziano Vecelli; Tiziano Vecellio Description Italian painter, fresco painter and draughtsman Date of birth/death between 1485(1485) and 1490(1490) 27 August 1576(1576-08-27) Location of birth/death Pieve di Cadore Venice Work location Venice (1498), Ferrara, Mantua, Padua (1511), Milan (1540), Rome (1545-1546), Florence (1546), Augsburg (1548, 1550-1551) ([1]) [Public domain or Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons )

Bouguereau : Painting Clothless Women and Men

2010-03-29T15:02:00.038+05:30

It was the period where I was uncertain about the way I would travel on and the manner I would conduct my life. Nor I had thought about being an artist, when I was running in my rough twenties. But one thing was certain; I liked the figurative paintings most. I liked to look at the sensual skin painted by Raphael and Renoir. But my favourite was William Bouguereau.

Evening Mood

Figurative Art: Most of the figurative artists experience that the beauty is beyond the figure of a model. This leads an artist to infuse his or her ideas of beauty to ascribe to the model first; and then to paint the same on a canvas. This is the reason why the eyes of viewers looking at that painting would find something ‘body plus’ in it. A figurative painting is not the photocopy of a model that had been before the artist while he put the colours on canvas. The artists add the element of beauty through the artistic endeavours.

The Artist: Bouguereau was an artist who painted the human figures as realistically as possible. There is a class of artists and art lovers who believe since ages that a realistic figurative painting would be suggestive of some undesired element attached with the corporeal desires. If we look at the paintings by Bouguereau, we would tend to go away from this belief. It was the time when artists avoided depicting the gender characteristics. Male and female organs were shown as obscured by any cloth or other objects. But the paintings by Bouguereau were depicting the female genitals and looked beautiful, as they were not so sensual in that respect. (Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

"Each day I go to my studio full of joy; in the evening when obliged to stop because of darkness I can scarcely wait for the next morning to come…if I cannot give myself to my dear painting I am miserable." - William-Adolphe Bouguereau.

Bouguereau’s style of working was not less than the traditional one: he would make the detailed pencil studies first of all; then he would prepare primary oil sketches of the paintings; and then he would think about transferring that artwork on to a final canvass. These methods of Bouguereau’s painting helped him in creating the accurate and eye-catching figures of human forms; especially the paintings of cloth-less women. His art was much benefited by his style of functioning.

Birth of Venus, Detail

Like most of the other master artists, Bouguereau had also painted the Venus. Here it is The Birth of Venus (La Naissance de Venus) that is one of the most famous paintings by him. In addition to showing the birth of Venus, here the Goddess is shown to be travelling in a shell, over the water of the sea. In this painting, The Birth of Venus, Bouguereau had shown his natural instinct and the technical knowledge of the contours of the cloth-less female body. A human body, especially a female, attracts the viewers’ eyes by the balanced proportions. And this regard Bouguereau had acquired artistic inspiration from the artists of sixteenth century. (Images courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

Many of the artists would use Indian Red and Yellow Ochre for getting a proper mix for the flesh tones. I have seen even Viridian being used when some neutralization of the tint is necessary.
Modern painters would use the best quality burnt umber for painting the shadowed portions of the skin with the mixture of into the darker areas. For those who use yellow as main tint, ultramarine Blue should do the job. This would help creating strong value contrast.

The abduction of Psyche

He preferred both realistic and mythological themes for depiction of his art; but he presented the subjects with newer and fresh interpretations of the classical subjects he chose to paint. Very often he chose the bare body females as his subjects; but he emphasized showing art with his photo-realistic style of painting. This made his painting popular. Strangely perhaps his clients like his paintings and commissioned him generously.

Using Flesh Tint: In the world of figurative painting and painting the flesh, perhaps no aspect has generated more opinions or controversies as the painting the flesh has created. And when the human body so painted is a female in her natural beauty, it generates curiosity and controversy, too. For an artist it is difficult to decide about true flesh colour and tint to be applied. It is because we humans come is such a wide variety of skin colors. The colour of skin derives from a person’s exposure to sunlight. We can see different skin tones of peoples from same region, too.

Here in this painting A Young Girl Defending Herself Against Eros, Bouguereau had used all of his calibers. The most important thing is his power of drawing the lines so exactly. For Bouguereau the art of painting was an allegory. He depicted the classical themes and historical subject matters through his art. While painting the cloth-less women and the women and children in their natural beauties, he had brought the "primordial images” to life. Taking the images based on the old Greek master pieces, the art by Bouguereau was at his best.

The Art of Drawing: It was the characteristics of Renaissance artist to observe carefully the objects of nature and the human form. They would know the anatomy of humans body very minutely. Bouguereau had done it very wisely in his paintings and drawings. Here is the drawing from which he had painted the above painting.

Were we to look into the popular paintings done by the master artists, we can see the better use of colour and concept while painting the human flesh. In addition to rightly choosing a flesh colour, the highlighting and shading is equally important. If we see at the famous painting of Mona Lisa, we can observe how Leonardo da Vinci used highlights and shades to give a sense of depth to his masterpiece. Without such masterly executed highlights, even a masterpiece would look a little bit unrealistic.

Drawing and Painting the Movements: Bouguereau had painted the movements of female body extremely beautiful. In many of his paintings, we can see the hips of a cloth-less woman swinging. The paintings by Bouguereau, when we observe them with an artist's eyes, tell us two things: One the artists had injected pure sense of beauty in the women figures; and another main aspect is that he had shown more engagement of his skill while executing the paintings. His commitment to the art was total. And perhaps these were the qualities which enabled him to get more commissions from clients. In the above painting Bilblis (Images courtesy Wikimedia Commons), the artists has created the feel of the sensual skin.

BOUGUEREAU : Painting Natural Beauty of Women and Children

Theme: Paintings of women Bathers. Painting Natural Beauty of Women

Whenever I see paintings done by William Bouguereau, I feel that this man must be putting the colours in a bowl; then he would be adding oil of beauty into it; and there after he would splash that colourful bow at the eyes of viewers. Such stunning is his depiction of beauty of human form.

ADMIRATION (1897) -BY Bouguereau

Bouguereau was attached with the Academie Julian. He taught in this art institutions to the pupils like Henry Metesse. And Metesse himself had turned out to be a great painter and he found the institution for the promotion and teaching the art.

The Art: Bouguereau is known for his photo realistic paintings. His lining has changed the old classical perspectives. It was believed that the lining work is more important than the putting the paints on the canvas. He had corrected the perception that the ‘the line always takes precedence over the colour. Instead he established that “the secret to a good painter lies in to see color and line as the same thing." From his paintings we can see that he had applied this perception for the betterment of the art of painting. He showed the art-world how accurately the human form can be painted; how glowingly the skin of female models be animated on the canvas.

For Bouguereau the art of painting was an allegory. He depicted the classical themes and historical subject matters through his art. While painting the cloth-less women and the women and children in their natural beauties, he had brought the "primordial images” to life. Taking the images based on the old Greek master pieces, the art by Bouguereau was at his best. He had painted the movements of female body extremely beautiful. In many of his paintings, we can see the hips of a cloth-less woman swinging. [Image courtesy William-Adolphe Bouguereau [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons]
The Artist: Bouguereau, a son of an olive oil merchant, was a staunch traditionalist French painter. His preference was to paint the mythological themes. But as he added his photo realistic approach of the painting in this aspect, it was a novel presentation of the historical and mythological characters. This has provided us with newer and fresh interpretations of the classical subjects he had selected to paint. Though he chose the natural beauty of female bodies as his subjects, he did represent the art in its purest form. And due to this reason perhaps his paintings were widely popular and his clients had commissioned him generously. Some of the paintings by him are masterpieces, these paintings are:
The abduction of Psyche,

Evening Mood,

BIRTH OF VENUS

The Painting titled as The Wave was painted by Bouguereau in the year 1886. Here the charm and physical beauty of the woman competes with the strength of roaring waves of seawater. This painting is perhaps one of the most beautiful paintings done in photo-realistic style.
(Image below courtesy William-Adolphe Bouguereau [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons)

Eugene de Blaas : Painting Thoughtful Moments

2009-12-21T10:26:00.024+05:30

Theme: Painting the Delicate skin in Academic Style of Paintings. Oil Paintings of Beautiful Females by masters. Women Painted in Pensive Moments. When the artist decides to paint a woman cloth-less, he or she would have to use the brush with much sensual care. The job of an artist is to recreate the scene or the feel of the person's personality if it is a portrait.

Female cloth-less: In The Water

The Artists: Eugene de Blaas was an Italian painter (1843 – 1932). Though he mostly painted portraits, his paintings mainly come under category of classicism. He was one of the recognized painters working under the
academic style
of painting.

This painting depicts a clothless woman standing in water, a pond perhaps. A tranquil water mass sea is in the background for the cloth-less female painting. The less detailed sky bright indicating the sun would be somewhere in horizon. There are a few lightly detailed clouds in the sky, less lighted than the water surface. Invisible dark lines of cloth-less figure prominently separate the female figure from blue and green water.

Here the woman is not only the object to look at. Her figures is not shown on the frame merely for depiction of the beautiful skin and curvy part of a female body. In this painting the artists has tried to show the woman doing some serious act, perhaps thinking about her life and the events to come.

The academic style of painting had originated to rebel against the set standard by the academies itself, but later it became an individual style of painting boast many master artists as its and pioneers and followers. Also known as historicism style of painting, painters like Bouguereau, Suzor-Coté, Thomas Couture, and Hans Makart were the great contributors to such paintings. In the time of Eugene the painting of women have undergone a very qualitative change.

The Art: This painting depicts a woman sitting on a wall near seashore. A tranquil water mass of the sea is in background of the thoughtful female figure. The less detailed brightness of sky indicating that sun would be somewhere in horizon. On the top of the women's head, we can see the nicely painted and detailed clouds. However the clouds are highlighted less than the water of sea. the shining water surface provides an outstanding background for a simply dressed woman body.

A Pensive moments By Eugene de Blaas

The thoughtful look and condition of he wall suggest the essence of the painting. Here the act of 'waiting' seems to be the central feature of the painting. and Eugene has rightly titled this painting asA Pensive Moment. The woman painted here might be looking for her beloved to come from the sea journey and thinking about their reunion. (Images courtesyBy Eugen von Blaas (1843–1932) Description Italian painter Date of birth/death 24 July 1843(1843-07-24) 10 February 1932(1932-02-10) Location of birth/death Albano near Rome, Italy Venice Work period 1863- (Art Renewal Center) [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons , IN the Water By Eugen von Blaas (1843–1932) Description Italian painter Date of birth/death 24 July 1843(1843-07-24) 10 February 1932(1932-02-10) Location of birth/death Albano near Rome, Italy Venice Work period 1863-[see page for license], from Wikimedia Commons)

BOUCHER: Painting Natural Beauty of Women, Painting the Mistress

2009-11-19T23:55:00.025+05:30

Theme: Painting Clothless Women Figures. Paintings of Mistresses.

Painting is a process arranging colours creating emotions. It appeals to the senses of viewers, through visual communication. In western Europe, painting natural beauty of human body has been an artistic affair since long. Here we would see how Boucher had maintained his artistic and sensual relationship with the art of figurative painting.

Marie-Louise O'Murphy, Mistress to Louise XV of France, painted by Francois Boucher

The Figurative Art: Figurative painting has worked as an important ‘building block’ of art of painting. With the flow of the time river, since the fertile years of seventeen and eighteenth centuries, the skill of painting the natural beauty, especially of the female models, had become a true test of an artist’s painterly skills. READ FURTHER>>>

Peter Paul Rubens: Painting Sensual Pleasure, Painting Natural Beauty of Women

2009-11-13T10:24:00.032+05:30

Paintings of Natural Beauty of Women. Paintings of 17th Century. Sensual Brush Strokes of Masters.

Rubens Venus at Mirror

There is a strange similarities in most of the artists. You pick up any two artists, and one of them would be suffering from an incurable disease. Name of the disease is 'buying the books' about art and other artists. I know this because I have this disease from the days I was in college. I would purchase a book about a master artist and his/her work with an honest desire to read it as soon as possible. But the reading used to be postponed until I left my last job and devoted my remaining life to the field of art, especially writing about the art of painting and the life and works of the master artists. And in newly-found spell of time, I just opened my old cupboard, and found out Rubens.

The Artist: Peter Paul Rubens (1577 - 1640), a Flemish baroque painter, had made Antwerp his home after he lost his father at the age of ten. His paintings had an aroma of counter revolutionary spirit, perhaps. As an advocate of an extravagant Baroque, Rubens had emphasized movement, color, and sensuality in his paintings. His subjects varied from historical paintings to the depiction of mythological stories.

If we look at Peter Paul Rubens’s paintings, we could not miss to notice that his paintings are not only the cumulative product of a woman's skeletal structure. Nor his paintings are merely depicting the feminine fat and alluring quantity of muscles.

How To Understand A Painting

The Art: Rubens has tried copying some of the paintings by Titian. The above painting of Venus must be one of his try in that direction. Here the Venus is shown as looking into glass, making the viewers seeing the face of the model, too. His females painted in their natural beauty were dynamic and looking lively. His female beauties were less rigid in appearance. Unlike his contemporaries or the artists who painted such cloth-less females before, Rubens painted females with more sensual brush strokes.

This painting Venus at Mirror is an example of how wonderfully the use of light against deep darkness can beautify the focus. If we look at the Renaissance period artists' paintings, we can see how these masters controlled their subjects using a little bright light to make the environment so outstanding. This technique helps to define the image. Ruben's women have power to steal the attention of viewers; his painting would emit a sound that had been embedded withing the artworks by Ruben. His paintings of women's flesh had worked on several levels simultaneously. These paintings offer beauty of a female's bare body on one hand, and on another they tell mythological stories, too.

To describe the paintings done by Rubens, a special word was devised: 'Rubenesque'. This word symbolized the paintings of women with heavy waist and ample bodied. Rubens would paint a woman model in her natural beauty with voluptuousness and putting dimples on her flesh. His painting Three Graces is one of the most famous paintings in the world of art. Rubens’s visit to Rome and Italy made him acquainted with the work of master artists like Titian, Caravaggio and Raphael. He had occasions to meet and admire work of the group of contemporary Italian artists.

The Inspiration: After death of her first wife when Rubens was 53, he married Helen, his second wife. At that time Helen was sixteen years of age only; and Ruben had made memorable paintings depicting her beauty. We can see the charming beauty of Helen in Rubens' paintings titled The Garden of Love, The Three Graces and The Judgment of Paris. (Image courtesy Wikipedia Commons )

BODY PAINTING ART: Female and Male Body Painting

2009-10-19T08:24:00.048+05:30

Theme: Painting of Human Body. Cloth-less Female Body Painting, Male and Female Body Painted. Guarding against the Evil Spirits. Full body painting on male and female bodies.

Body painting is an artistic application of exotic colours all over the body. When a person desire to show his or her desires on his or her face, he or she approaches a professional body painter. These painters paint and draw figures on face. Among young boys and girls, such face painting is in vogue when attending a party of a celebration. Festivals are preferred places for the body painters.

Nice Body Art

The History: In fact we, the human race as a whole, are fond of painting our bodies since prehistoric times. In past we were used to paint our bodies with materials like natural dyes, paints and pigments. In some cases we use ash, vegetable colours and clay. In modern time the body painters use synthetic colours, too. Generally such body paintings are done for a show or to enjoy the festival time.

The Art: Body painting or sometimes called and known as 'Body Painting Art' is a form or an ancient type of Art. In this art the body of a person, a man or a woman, is painted on its skin itself. People get their bodies painted for fun and for artistic purposes. It is widely known as "Body Art", too.

Face Painting: The art or artwork of body painting that is done only on face is known as 'Face Painting'. The large scale or "Full Body Painting" is known as "Art of Body Painting". Body painting is an art that uses human body as a canvas. It is a form of painting pictures or spreading colours on human body making it pleasant looking to the eyes of viewers. No part is now untouched by body painting! But face takes the most of work.

The Beliefs: The markings that the people make on bodies are thought to have magical powers with which one could ward off evil spirits or the tribal enemies. Such was the thinking in past. The painting of bodies was also coined with celebration of auspicious occasions like New Year or a dance party. Same practice still are prevailing in the indigenous populations of countries like New Zealand, Australia, Pacific Islands, and certain parts of Africa.

Exclusive festivals are held to show the work of body art. During such festivals, the artists and art lovers of body painting show their art and the choices. Such festivals provide wider opportunities for knowing new trends in the art.

Malibu - Body Painting

Painting various figures on human bodies is considered as one of the most ancient form of the arts. The figures or designs inked on body are not of a permanent nature like the tattoos inked with sharp needles. It is quite temporary, and is painted onto the human skin itself. It would last for several hours or some days.

Body Painting Art in Asian Countries: In India the women and men are fond of using Henna. It is a colour extracted from a plant of Henna; it is also known as Mehandi. This type of body painting with Henna has been a fashion in India and the Middle East since many years. People paint their hands and legs and other parts of body with Henna during the auspicious ceremonies like weddings. The use of henna or Mehandi has become popular in the Western countries, too, since last two decades. On the figure given here a painter has done his or her artwork on the subtle body of a woman who is wearing almost no clothes.

Body Painting in South America: The art of body painting is not a new phenomenon in the countries of South America, too. People here have been using indigenous materials to paint their body and body parts. They use wet charcoal, annatto, and other materials available in the local surrounding. In some parts of America, a material known as Huito is used to paint the bodies and faces. Huito is a black dye, and it takes weeks to fade away. (Images courtesy: Nice Body Art By Ivan Stang (nice body art.jpg) [CC-BY-2.0], from Wikimedia Commons , Malibu By Kathy (originally posted to Flickr as Malibu Girl)[see page for license], from Wikimedia Commons , Malibu Painting By Kathy ([1]) [CC-BY-2.0], from Wikimedia Commons )

Accessories for Body Painting

While doing the painting on body, the human canvas, the artist would require instruments like needles, hairspray, airbrush kit, temporary tattoo kit, tattoo ink, face colours, colour cakes, soft towels, and other face painting and body painting supplies. One should use only good quality supplies by renowned companies.

How To Remove The Body Painting

Painting on body is not permanent marks like the tattoos; as such paintings are done for a special purpose or occasion. The removal of colours used in body painting is also a technique. If water is used in painting, do use water in removing the colours, too. Warm water would be better. Ensure that no colours are used that could create a patch or permanent mark on your body, and while removing avoid any type of scrubbing. Use soft towels, paper towels or sponges in the getting rid of wet and dry colours. Extra care must be taken in removing the stuffs from delicate parts like eyes, breasts and vagina, if these parts of body are painted.

EDOUARD MANET : Adding Natural Beauty to Female Figure

2009-02-28T13:25:00.029+05:30

Theme: Painting females and natural beauties with landscape as back ground.

In most of his portrait paintings, Edouard Manet had concentrated on the eyes; may it be the portrait of Berthe Morisot or L'Inconnue, he had positioned the models eyes adding much value to the meaning of paintings, making them more aesthetic.

La Nymphe surprise Oil on canvas
Size 146 x 114 cm by Edouard Monet

The Artist: Édouard Manet, a French painter (1832-1883), was one of the artists who painted modern-life subjects in nineteenth century. Manet played a greater role in the movement of the art. He helped the transition from realism movment of paintings to the impressionism. READ FURTHER>>>

PAUL GAUGUIN: Painting Tahitian Females

2009-02-27T13:25:00.035+05:30

Were we to make a list of the main post-Impressionist painters, and we miss the name of Eugene Henri Paul Gauguin, the list would be colourlessly incomplete. Gauguin, besides being an impressionist, is known for experimental use of bold colours. And as widely known, his brushstrokes were as delicate as his heart that housed many young women.

Manao tupapau - The Spirit of the Dead Keep Watch, Oil on canvas: Paul Gauguin

The Artist: Gauguin did two great things in his life (I do not know which one was his mistake): he mastered the art of passing the bristles of his painting using brush like a lover would pass fingers on the bare back of his beloved woman. Another great thing he did was to leave his own wife and children for being a great artist. We would discuss here only his artistic adventure. When we look at any of the paintings done by Gauguin, we would not miss noticing that he had managed an unspoken arrangement between his colours and the subtlety of the brush strokes. That is the real rhythm his paintings possess. In addition to that, the prime thing that made him such a renowned artist was his capability to understand the inherent meaning of the subjects he painted. He caught very meaning of subjects, the core sector. Before painting he would understand the subject, and then he would upload that onto the canvas, expressing everything with his impressionist style of painting.

The Art: For most of the painters, the subject of painting human body has remained the most beautiful and perfect for depiction of their artistic prowess. The artists since the ages have exploited this subject and the human form in their paintings. The human body, especially female body in its natural beauty is a subject of first choice among the artists. This subject contains the element of mysterious allure. But very few of these artists have done so sensual justice justice to the natural beauty of women’s cloth-less body as the master artist Paul Gauguin has done through his fine art paintings. Numbers of painters have used this subject of painting natural beauties of women, but very few have succeeded in the job as Paul Gauguin.

Many painters have spent their entire life doing figurative paintings, keeping men and women as their models. They all respected and adored the women sitting as a model for them; and they tried hard to beautify the looks of model. These painters tried laboriously for injecting liveliness into the portraits of the females they painted. The great painters from the time of renaissance have done much artistic endeavours to immortalise a simple smile on the face of a beautiful woman or the alluring curves of the bodies of some fatal fames. (Images courtesy Wikimedia Commons)