The Naked Nude

This is the book that I wanted, but I have to say that its not the kind of book you can leave on your coffee table if you have young children around...Some of the art used is very graphic for young children, other than that its well written and looks great.

An artistic review of most aspects of the human form, both beautiful and gruesome. Well presented and pictorially informative too.

Perfect

This is a different kind of art book on the subject of the nude, intentionally transcending and distancing itself from the beautiful acceptable nude as portrayed in classical art, as well as the opinions expressed in the culturally influential book by Sir Kenneth Clark, 'The Nude', which subtracted the embarrassment factor from nude art mainly by deleting its sexuality and imperfection. Frances Borzello takes the reader into an avant-guard world where the art of the erotic, the primitive, the ugly, the bestial, the repellent, the almost pornographic, are presented, not as idealized forms, but as new art statements confounding those who believed there was nothing left to say on the subject of the nude after Rodin. The text discusses the art of many international artists working in the 20th and 21st centuries who, perhaps surprisingly, continue to create paintings and sculptures with the nude as the central focus of attention, although there are references to the older 'classical' nudes by Giorgione, Géricault, Courbet, Gwen John, Goya and Manet.In total, the work of over a hundred artists is discussed and illustrated in the book. It is a fairly comprehensive review of contemporary nude art in all genres and at all levels. The book includes studies of the work of famous artists such as Lucian Freud, Antony Gormley, Ron Mueck, Gilbert and George; the moderately famous such as Jenny Saville, Marc Quinn, Spencer Tunick and the less well-known such as John Currin, Alice Neel, Ellen Altfest etc. Later chapters explore the nude in photography, body art, performance art, pop-art and hyperrealism. The text-colour photograph ratio is about 60% illustration to 40% text which seems about right. The book's size, 9 x 11.5 inches (225 x 285 mm), is large enough to display the illustrations in sufficient detail. Thames and Hudson usually produce fine quality art books... this is another.The title, 'The Naked Nude', indicates the book's aim: to strip the concept of the nude in art from all its remaining clothing of decency and propriety, decorum and acceptability. Borzello attempts to present the nude as fact, not fiction. This is a book about the nude in all its glorious human imperfection.Contemporary art has sometimes been criticized for too often habitually attempting to shock that it no longer shocks, but instead frequently wearies the spectator. Does this book set out to intentionally shock... I don't think so? Frances Borzello is an art historian who has a doctorate from University College, London and this book on the nude is a serious study, although with an element of playfulness. Contemporary art usually has a strong element of humour in it, often the artist laughing at the expense of the viewer, consequently this book will, from time to time, bring a smile to your face.

In this beautifully produced book, which contains 130 high-quality illustrations, Frances Borzello examines nudity in modern art, arguing that, whilst in the past the nude was presented as a generic ideal of beauty or heroism, the modern 'naked' nude is concerned with imperfection, individuality, sexuality, and 'the concerns and contradictions that surround the 21st-century body'.Borzello begins by giving an historical overview of the subject (treated in Kenneth Clark's 1956 classic study "The Nude") before showing how from the late 19th century artists such as Manet and Degas gradually began to represent individualized nudes in realistic positions.Chapter 2 deals with body art (i.e. performance art involving the body) as practised by artists such as Marina Abramović, Yves Klein, and Carolee Schneemann. Chapter 3 then examines how women in particular have used the naked body in art against the tradition of male artists producing idealized nudes for the male gaze. The following chapters treat of the nude in painting, the nude in sculpture, and the naked portrait. This latter chapter is particularly interesting as Borzello highlights the tension between portraits (i.e. studies of recognizable sitters) and nudity. Finally Borzello discusses how nudity is used by certain artists who 'cannot resist turning the handle to the door that hides the forbidden and taboo'.I found the book as a whole well-argued, accessible, and stimulating. There are some wonderful pictures here such as Gwen John's 'Nude Girl', Eleanor Carucci's joyful 'My Mother and I', and Victoria Kate Russell's portrait of Fiona Shaw. Each caption comes with a small commentary which makes for enjoyable browsing. "The Naked Nude" has introduced me to a host of artists such as Alice Neel and Lotte Laserstein about whom I want to learn more, and by the end I was reading with the internet at hand to look up even more pictures and artists mentioned in the text.Borzello dedicates this book to 'Catalina, Sophia, Lucas, Liza and Lorenzo (who won't be allowed to look at this book till they are older)', and it should be borne in mind that, whilst 'The Naked Nude' contains many beautiful pictures, some of them are shocking, disturbing, and graphic (part of the book's interest lies in the moments when beauty and graphicness overlap, as in Panayiotis Lamprou's 'Portrait of My British Wife').