The Female Nude: Art, Obscenity, and Sexuality

by Lynda Nead

Anyone who examines the history of Western art must be struck by the prevalence of images of the female body. More than any other subject, the female nude connotes `art'. The framed image of a female body, hung on the walls of an art gallery, is an icon of Western culture, a symbol of civilization and accomplishment. But how and why did the female nude acquire this status?
The Female Nude brings together, in an entirely new way, analysis of the historical tradition of the female nude and discussion of recent feminist art, and by exploring the ways in which acceptable and unacceptable images of the female body are produced and maintained, renews recent debates on high culture and pornography.
The Female Nude represents the first feminist survey of the most significant subject in Western art. It reveals how the female nude is now both at the centre and at the margins of high culture. At the centre, and within art historical discourse, the female nude is seen as the visual culmination of enlightenment aesthetics; at the edge, it risks losing its repectability and spilling over into the obscene.

Genres: Art, Art History, Feminism, Nonfiction, History, Academic, Gender

184 pages, Paperback

First published December 3, 1992

Reviews

[Rytas Sakas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phallically wrapped body? 🤬🤬
Contained body? 🤬🤬🤬
Kiss & Tell? 😩😍😍

[Ana]

preocupado principalmente por la cuestión de la respetabilidad del cuerpo femenino desnudo y su obscenidad. me aspa un poco la parte en la que habla de cine feminista porque el discurso está demasiado reducido a la intención de la artista "pretende incomodar a través del cuerpo entonces debe ser feminista y valioso" (y eso que los ejemplos me interesan)

[leti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me esperaba otra cosa

[elisaveta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite good, unfortunately lacking sufficient intersectionality.

[Merve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kadın bedeni, cinsellik, sanatta kadın bedeninin, kadının işlevi, anlamlandirilmasi üzerine oldukca keyifli bir metin. Feminist bir yöntemle yazılmış bir kitap. Ben ingilizce çeviri yapacağım diye helak ettim kitabı, metne parçalarına ayira ayira cümle cümle paragraf paragraf okudum butunsellikten biraz uzaklaştım ama sanat tarihinde kadının konumuna dair yerinde tespitleri var. Resimler, fotoğraflarla da desteklenmiş bir kitap. 100 küsur sayfa. İnce bir kitap. Okunmalı. Başka bir yerden kadına, bedene, sanata bakmak isteyenler için keyifli olacağını düşünüyorum.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting read which affirmed some beliefs and challenged others, besides positing her own opinions on the subject Nead also provides a great meta-analysis of the topic, with various pull quotes from a range of examples and publications.

[Víctor Bermúdez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Índice
Teoría del desnudo femenino
Marcando de nuevo las líneas
Diferenciaciones culturales
Bibliografía
Relación de láminas

[victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

i was gonna use this book as a source for one of my papers, but my prof changed the assignment. but it was a very interesting read and i would recommend it to all my art historian friends!

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really good book for an overview. I have no background in art history or appreciation, probably a less than average grasp of history even, but this book was an interesting guide through painting and the female nude. A book I was happy to read for a class.

[Jessie Emilie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read The Female Nude and found it incredibly helpful for my thesis on the nude body in art. It offers a thorough historical overview of how female nudes have been portrayed and understood across different periods.