Kenneth Clark's "Nude Art"

Sir Kenneth Clark (1903- 1983) is one of the most outstanding art historians in the 20th century. At the age of 30, he became the curator of the National Gallery of Britain, presided over the wartime artist program during World War II, and served as a professor at Oxford University after World War II. The large-scale documentary "Civilization" hosted by him premiered on 1969, which was not only popular at that time, but also influenced today.

I bought this book together last year because I need to read books related to visual culture. Recently, I decided to read all the books I bought first, so I can't buy them without reading them. I changed the assumption that I feel as if I have completed my task and mastered my knowledge. Concentrate on reading these two weeks. Although there is not much inspiration for the current research, there are still many viewpoints and knowledge points that can be used in teaching. Therefore, the brief explanation is as follows:

Distinguish between nudity and nudity, and the development of art will be clear at a glance. Western nude images are divided into Apollo, Venus, strength, pain, ecstasy and other traditions, which are comprehensive and focused. Another goal is to connect the past and the future with the nude image itself.

Think about it:

P3: The word "naked" was introduced into the English system only in the early 8th century. At that time, art critics introduced this word to convince us narrow-minded British islanders that nude portraits are the core theme of artistic creation in countries that really admire painting and sculpture and affirm their value.

P8: Bareness is not only the starting point of artistic creation, but also a very important excuse. Throughout the history of art, the core themes that people choose according to their sense of order are actually not so important in many cases ... The human body has already had rich connections, and these connections have not been completely lost after the human body is artistically. Therefore, it is the core theme that the human body can exist independently. By the same token, although the human body rarely brings relatively concentrated aesthetic shock like animal decorative patterns, its connotation is wider and its expression is more infectious. It is ourselves who can evoke all the memories, and most importantly, it represents our instinctive desire to reproduce. This meaning is too obvious, I don't need to say anything, but there are always some smart guys who are going to turn a blind eye. Professor Samuel Alexander once said: "If nude images arouse the viewer's thoughts or desires for the body, then it is pseudo-art and immoral." This kind of speech is lofty, but it is far from the real experience.

P 12- 13: artists can pick out perfect parts from many people and combine them into a perfect human body ... This theory is naturally welcomed by artists, but it is neither logical nor empirical.

The eccentricity of the ancient Greeks contributed to the formation of an indestructible perfect image. The most unique thing is the enthusiasm of the ancient Greeks for mathematics. P23: The ancient Greeks believed in the body. They think that the body should be proud and should be kept in a perfect state. Personalization.

P25: Here we reach the core of nudity, as Blake wrote in Sketch of Man: "Ancient Greek statues are representatives of spiritual existence and immortal gods, which appear in perishable and perishable visual organs, embedded in marble and reorganized in it." Where is the form, where is the belief in God, and where is the rational proportion of love. The Greeks used their imagination to blend them together. It is precisely because of the reconciliation of opposing States that nude images have gained value. It uses the most pleasant rational concept, the most interesting human form, time and desire untouchable; It brings pleasure to the senses with the purest rational concept, that is, mathematical laws; It takes advantage of the hidden fear brought by the unknown and beautifies it. God exists in human form, and people worship it because of its perfect form, and pay attention to its ability to give life rather than the power to bring death.

To understand how much the spirit depends on the nude form, we only need to look at the figures in clothes in the Middle Ages or the early Renaissance ... When nude images no longer express ideas, but only express physical beauty, they will soon lose their value.

P28: Nudity is my most serious theme after all.

P35: Puritans in the field of art are quite interesting. It can be roughly divided into two categories: those who declare a complete break with debauchery, such as Pu Sang and john milton; Another kind of people, represented by Fran? ois de Mahleb and georges seurat, tried to purify art by introducing rational logic and invariance.

This shows how easy it is to use the beauty of the body until it gradually degenerates into "beauty".

P94: As long as the ideal paradigm is loose, there will be changes that cater to the public's tastes. The "three goddesses" represent ... Aphrodite is always ready to return to the most primitive and clumsy appearance.

P 14 1: The melodramatic goddess is a woman who is always fashionable. However, why is the embodiment of elegance presented in such an absurd form? Little hands and feet can't do down-to-earth work, slender bodies can't give birth to offspring, and small brains can't hold any thoughts at all. Sociologists must prepare answers. However, in the field of architecture, ceramics or calligraphy, there are many works with such elegant proportions, but they do not need pragmatic explanations. The human body is not the basis of symbol, but the victim. Where does fashion come from? Controlled by what? What are the inherent laws that we can't make mistakes? These problems are too grand and subtle to be explained clearly in a few words. But one thing is certain: fashion is not natural. Playboy by william congreve's Milla Mante and Charles Baudelaire warned us that anything with the word "nature" is the most hateful to the faithful pursuers of fashion. Therefore, strictly speaking, the exquisite women in Fontainebleau Palace should not be classified as "secular Venus". But they also have nothing to do with "sacredness". Although they seem to be out of touch, they are born with clever ideas to ignite their desires. The strange figure ratio is to arouse sexual fantasies. In contrast, Titian's honest naked girl has little chance.

P 173: We have released the vitality of the body through art, and gained the promotion of vitality-from johann wolfgang von goethe to Behrensen, all the wise people who have thought about art think that this vitality is one of the important sources of aesthetic pleasure.

P 185: diagonal of heroes. In all civilizations, people will regard certain actions and gestures as clear symbolic language and apply them to art, especially dance art (drama). We all know that dance deeply influenced the ancient Greek sculpture, which not only realized the dynamic rhythm of the characters in the carving belt, but also formed the expression meaning of specific gestures, so the body language was almost as accurate as the written language. For example, the posture of getting up early and stepping forward-one leg is slightly bent and the other leg is in a straight line with the back-is a symbol of strength and determination.

P 192: From the images of Heracles and Samson in the Middle Ages, we can see how ideas get meaning through visual forms rather than written descriptions.

P2 10: This shows the power of symbols: Hercules even appeared in the most remote corner of Europe ... His nude image pierced the darkness of the Middle Ages for the first time, and made people living in the promised land in the north feel the power of nude image for the first time.

The human body has been pitifully degraded to the state of the Stone Age, or even lower ... In the past three thousand years, the ancient symbol of power has always brought us the joy of self-identification, and it may be a long time before we are willing to give it up.

P330: Christian ethics emphasizes the erotic meaning of nudity, which leads to its gradual degeneration. To protect the purity of nude images, classical ideas are actually more effective than any clothes.

P346: Breaking away from convention and pursuing truth-all the great revolutionaries in the history of art are repeating the same struggle.

P376: When the consciousness of self-identity flashes in our hearts, we still feel close to divinity, and we seem to perceive the order of the universe through our own bodies.

Memory point:

P5: The models portrayed by students are sometimes ugly, which makes people feel pitiful. Unlike a snow scene or a lion, the human body cannot be transformed into art through direct description. When we see natural scenery (or animals), we yearn for it and hope to blend in. It is this "pleasant fusion" that produces art, which aesthetic experts call "empathy". Describing the psychological state of nudity, on the other hand, is the opposite. Many nude photos bring us disillusionment and depression instead of empathy. What we pursue is not imitation and reproduction, but perfection and idealization. ..... Our eyes have become accustomed to the classical beauty of harmony and simplicity. No matter what the tastes and skills of photographers are, their works are always unsatisfactory. For example, we immediately notice flaws such as wrinkles and bags under the eyes ... We are used to seeing nudity as an image, not an organism. ...

P8: The earliest nude photography.

P 10: Only the Mediterranean countries are the hometown of nudity, but even there, its meaning is often forgotten.

P 1 1: A century before the Christian system was formally established, nudity was no longer an important artistic theme. In the Middle Ages, nudity had the opportunity to enter secular decoration or present religious images of the origin and end of human beings. (But it didn't happen, for the reason see p 1 1).

P20: Michelangelo's "dependence".

P26: In the first hundred years of the Renaissance, nude images developed most vigorously. At that time, people's yearning for ancient images coincided with the symbolism and personification of the medieval tradition.

P3 1: There are two extremely important features reflecting evolution: clarity and idealization. ..... Historians who believe that art should be devoted to expressing reality may be surprised: curious ancient Greeks are so unwilling to be realistic, and there has been almost no "progress" in the past 50 years from The Man with the Calf to Aristotle's Tombstone. This view misunderstood the essence of ancient Greek art, because the essence of ancient Greek art was idealization, that is, on the basis of pursuing perfect form, it was gradually optimized through imitation until it was perfect. If we want to use one word to summarize the earliest formal characteristics of ancient Greek art, it should be "geometry".

P35: The delicate balance between outline and axis, which is the foundation of classical art. ..

P36: Poliukleist said: "Good works are the result of a lot of calculations, so be meticulous."

P37: The essence of ancient Greek art, which is balanced, complementary, perfect and symmetrical.

P43: It is the bronze statue that is truly based on the ancient idealized concept and constantly improved.

P45: praxiteles' Hermes represents the final victory of the integrity of ancient Greek art: physical beauty is a collection of strength, elegance, gentleness and kindness. Next, we will witness the perfect male image begin to break. ...

P49: (Antinous of Bisonia) This is almost the first time since the 4th century BC that a beautiful image refers to a real person, not a model.

P58-59: The sensibility of passion has thus entered the realm of reason. The original impulse has not been lost, but has achieved intentional harmony, which is the uniqueness of Michelangelo's nude image. The nude image he created is both moving and dignified.

P7 1: There are two kinds of prehistoric female images: prehistoric female portraits and Clardy dolls.

P72: Since17th century, we are more accustomed to seeing nude images of women than men in the art field, and it seems that nude images of women are more attractive. It wasn't like this before. There were no female nude statues in ancient Greece in the 6th century BC, and even in the 5th century BC, female nude statues were still very rare.

P8 1: Polykleitos (representative work Soldiers with Spears). This work appears according to the law of human beauty. In sculpture, the author puts forward three key points of bodybuilding: first, the standard of human beauty, the ratio of head to whole body is 1 7, (the length of whole body is 7 times that of head)? ; Second, the center of gravity is concentrated on one foot, the other is relaxed (that is, the center of gravity leaves the body weight), the right foot supports the whole body weight, and the left foot is freely bent into a toe shape. The supporting force of the two feet is obviously different, and the muscle tightness of the whole body is also obviously different; Third, after the whole body muscle movement changes, the stressed right foot echoes the left hand holding the spear, the relaxed left foot echoes the relaxed right hand, and the head rotates slightly to the right, making the shoulder form a right low and a left high. This forms the natural movements of the characters. The ideal balance posture has reached perfection, with the body center of gravity on the right leg and the left leg slightly flexed, which seems to be about to take a step. ..... This posture was originally used for male statues, but a genius happened to find that it was also suitable for women, and later it lasted longer in early female statues. ..... This kind of action called "hip twisting" by the French is very special, and the curve it produces can immediately grasp the line of sight, revealing and unifying two kinds of cognition: it is a geometric curve; History also tells us that it is a vivid symbol of primitive desire. We now think this posture is completely normal, but it seems that due to some strange cognitive restrictions, Egyptian and Mesopotamian sculptors have not found it here for thousands of years. However, once it was discovered, it became one of the most influential gestures in the field of art, including various mental models beyond the scope of ancient Greek philosophy. The related artistic expressions are all influenced by Greece. ...

P9 1: Almost all the ideas about female nudity originated in the 4th century BC.

P92: The charm and proportion of Aphrodite in Cyrene remind us of the last innovation of ancient art: "Three Guanyin".

P93: Although Alexander's art experienced Hellenism, he never completely abandoned the Egyptian style of wide hips and narrow breasts.

Long before female nudity became the object of moral or religious censure, it was not an important artistic theme. ..... She (Venus) went from religion to entertainment, from entertainment to decoration, and then disappeared. When she reappeared, human creations such as clothing, architecture, writing, ideology and moral system all changed their forms ... In Eve's body, this humble and gothic style of human unfortunate mother gave birth to a sexual tradition.

P96: This gesture invented by Giovanni later became an important expression of longing for transcendence, which was repeatedly adopted by other artists until the fanatics of the "Anti-Reformation Movement" exhausted its original meaning.

P 10 1: It is precisely because it contains human nature that Botticelli's Goddess really got rid of the stereotype of ancient art.

P 125: Since14th century, artists have enjoyed picnics in a few seconds.

P 154: A contemporary critic vividly described Angel as "a China lost in the ruins of Athens".

P 158: This shows his aesthetic belief that only the nude image of women is reasonable. Just 50 years ago, winkelmann Hay thought that male nudity can have personality, while female nudity only represents the yearning for beauty and will not be influenced by personal preference. Angel believes that beauty exists in smooth continuity. To a great extent, because Angel has been an unshakable core of academic circles for a long time, his theory naturally became a reality, and female nude models gradually replaced male nude models.

P 16 1: The reason why nude images survived the flood of hypocrisy in the Victorian era is that on the one hand, classical art gained unprecedented prestige in the first 25 years of the19th century, and on the other hand, the art education system has changed, paying more attention to sketch than before.

The ancient Greeks discovered two naked forces ... "athletes" and "heroes".

P 178- 179: The creation that Miron is trying is more difficult because there are very limited ways to express sports. In French, a person who is still but eager to try may make any action, "always ready". Therefore, the dynamics need to be "fixed", otherwise the posture of the human body will no longer meet the sculptor's vision in the next second. But we often see that fixation is so thorough that infinite possibilities are destroyed, and the greatest art is to express infinite possibilities. Augustine Rodin insisted that the only way is to combine the different stages of continuous movement. It is difficult for students in sports schools to explain the action of discus throwers, which just shows that Miron has successfully realized the integration of different stages of action.

P 182: The nude images of male athletes created by Miron and his successors are more or less rigid, because they do not use an important element that helps to express sports: rhythmic clothes folds.

In order to express the action vividly, some exaggeration is necessary. ..... For Michelangelo, nude structure is not only a tool of painting expression, but also one of the inherent characteristics of his whole artistic creation. Imagine that if the statue of the 4th century AD suddenly came alive, those handsome men and beautiful women would be fascinated by us. Michelangelo's athletes exist purely as carriers of expression. They must be short, wide and out of proportion.

P2 10: Michelangelo's strong personality greatly changed the expression of nude images. He changed the nude image from the carrier of expressing thoughts to the carrier of expressing emotions, and he brought the nude image from the current world to the future world. He created an imaginary world with unparalleled artistic expression, so that his shadow can be found in all male nude images in the next 350 years.

P2 10: Hercules can be said to be an ancient ambassador to the Middle Ages.

P2 12: corresponding to the "diagonal line of heroes", we might as well call it "spiral line of heroes".

P2 13: Aphrodite of Milos became a trademark to promote "beauty", while the discus throwers of Milon still appeared on the trophies awarded to athletes, and Mercury was regarded as a symbol of speed.

There are mainly four myths and legends that have inspired the imagination of ancient Greek artists and thus influenced the development of European art, namely: the murder of Neobi's children, the death of Hector or Meirelger, the suffering of arrogant Mathea, and the tragic ending of heroic and unyielding sacrifice to laocoon.

Both statues show pain through tense postures: head tilted back and arms raised above the head. Now we may associate this posture with relaxation, but the ancient Greeks thought it symbolized extreme pain.

This highly respected sculpture has gradually lost its influence in the past fifty years. There are many possible factors, so let's talk about two now: the completeness of careful thinking and the modification as much as possible. (laocoon)

P24 1: In Christian art, the following themes related to sadness can be used to depict nude images: excommunicating from the Garden of Eden, flogging Jesus, crucifying Jesus, burying Jesus and mourning.

P252: The deep thinking of "Broken Antiquities" by Michelangelo Guangyu is reflected in the earliest sketches: focusing on the modeling part, the key part itself is very expressive, and the rest only needs to be touched. (same as Rodin)

P29 1: It is incorrect to think that Haixian's knowledge exists in the form, and only the form has symbolic and modeling significance can it survive.

Polykleitos's position

P364: Returning to basic modeling always means returning to nudity for them, but for truly creative artists, returning to nudity means compromising on stylized university training. This is the dilemma faced by the great revolutionaries today.

P364: 1907 is the starting point of art in the 20th century. They are Matisse's Naked in Blue and Picasso's Maiden of avignon.