I'm confused, how did the Spanish Inquisition confiscate paintings that didn't exist until some 300-400 years later?
The Spanish Inquisition was around a lot longer than many people believe. From Wikipedia: The Spanish Inquisition was established in 1478 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms and was under the direct control of the Spanish monarchy. It was not definitively abolished until 1834, during the reign of Isabel II.
Hello Ian, read your thoughts and thank you for the post. With respect to naked and nude, for me naked looks and sounds more obliged, nude looks and sounds more like a gift.
If we restrict this to photography of the nude human, then I think it better. Always seems that people compare apples to oranges, photography to painting, etc.
I just glanced at your internet site... beautiful nudes
Thanks
Quote:
Originally Posted by ~ Ben
If we restrict this to photography of the nude human, then I think it better. Always seems that people compare apples to oranges, photography to painting, etc.
“All the past up to a moment ago is your legacy. You have a right to it.” Robert Henri “All art is infested by other art.” Leo Steinberg
A painting is not a photograph nor is a photograph a painting. Neither should pretend to be the other because that would be a falsehood; but it would be equally false for either to deny that the other exists.
Ian - I'm new to APUG, (like as of today!) but very interesting article. Like all good treatises(?) it possibly asks more questions than it answers - and that's good! I think that the questions you pose pertain to all art forms and subjects and that your article is as valid to the landscape photographer as it is to the nude photographer.
All art should generate an emotional response in the viewer and ideally that response should in some ways mirror that of the artist and so the subject matter is immaterial. We're just sharing our own emotions. Whenever I'm asked to write an "Artist's Statement" I inevitably suggest that we photograph not subjects or objects, but emotions. Our task as artist is to convey some of that emotion to our viewers.
We all hit periods where we question why we do what we do, and when we open ourselves to comment on such very personal issues as this we run the risk, (as you've seen) of hearing from those who KNOW, not just believe like the rest of us. Listen only to those you respect and discard the rest. Here's a hint though, when someone uses "University Professor" as a pejorative you may just want to switch off!
Clearly you respond to the nude figure - as we all do if we're honest - and seek to convey that tenderness and intimacy in your work. Good for you! Keep at it - but don't expect to fully understand it. Art is for expressing what the limitations of language cannot.
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