The Nude: a study in ideal form

I started by watching a series called Ways of Seeing by John Berger which inspired me to look closer at how we look at nudes in art, how nude was presented in the past, how it influenced people in the modern era and I found a publication The Nude: a study in ideal form (1956) by Kenneth McKenzie Clark.

The author’s fascination with nudes is what started the publication, the way it influences painting, and sculpting in the history of art was also a major factor.

In the book there is a focus on the difference between nudes ‘act’ and nakedness, he writes that being naked is being denied clothes and this word has some connotations which everyone feels when naked. On the other hand the word nude does not have an embarrassing or shaming feeling. An act for Clark is like clothing the body with art. To turn something into an act requires, according to Clark, the techniques mastered by the Ancient Greeks which use aesthetic, proportions, harmony and light to create the human form. Clark also believes that every act should evoke at least a slight feeling of eroticism, even if it is just a shadow of the feeling, which in some sense is what John Berger said, that lots of the nude paintings of women are there for the pleasure of the viewer. But Clark links the erotic feeling with something deeper, in other words eroticism is easy to define but each of the paintings should have deeper meaning to them and only then you create a good piece of art.

I think that Clark was right; art should evoke feeling but not depend on it. The strength of art is that it’s supposed to waken our soul, esthetical feelings and feelings of beauty. Nudity works with our imagination and sometimes in a refined way shows human nature but should be far from the animalistic desires. The author of the painting shouldn’t fill everything in, he can leave a little eroticism but not so much that it awakens our dirty minds.

In this publication the author starts by discussing the difference between nudes and nakedness but also shows us point by point what eroticism is and what pornography is. Of course his idea is very classical as it was written in the 60s but it can shield us from crossing a certain border. Clark also mentions that the point of view of the receiver matters as if his attitude towards even the slightest nudeness is that of a sexual nature even the greatest act will be pornography to him. I think that this thought is very current to our day as in our times the artist for some crosses all the borders but to others he is creating very deep artwork.