Nude Art and the 'Pure Land'

Nude, we all are in our bathrooms, occasionally in our bedrooms, and when a celebrity is, every one wants to shoot that precious moment by virtue of our hi-tech devices, we were not blessed with, in ancient period when the only way to incarcerate those luxurious moments, was either painting or sculpture. In the beginning, they were gods, goddesses and angles, shown naked in paintings as symbols of grace, beauty and innocence, but then those were pretty women and handsome men painted undress under the strong wave of “freedom of expression” simply called “Nudes” in art, the most popular as well as controversial they remained in all ages.

They were hard to accept openly in society but always had a strong appeal for viewers to give them a glance, when in public and a detailed look when alone. Texture and glow of skin, masterly crafted muscles, bones under the tender or strong flesh, giving the canvass a depth and atmosphere so close to our imagination.

Basically nudes are the concrete form of a creator’s thoughts and emotions under a certain instinct of wearing nothing but skin. There was no dress in the beginning of human history and might be so towards the end of “human history”. But anatomical study has always been a challenge to be adept in, for painters and sculptors. Religiously nudes were subject to free from any sensuality; on the contrary, they were taken as an expression of purity and “nothing to do with” attitude towards mortal life. Saints, goddesses and other sacred figures were above all social and ethical parameters but as soon as normal human beings were painted naked just to show them so, it was outlawed by righteous society.

When Raphael (1483-1520) painted “THE THREE GRACES” and David (1460-1523) produced “TRIPTYCH OF JEAN DES TROMPES, they promoted the religious thoughts and concepts or Delacroix’s famous “LIBERTY” was a symbol for pride and honor one could feel for one’s home land although the lady holding the flag was exposed from the top.

Then comes Manet’s (1832-1883) “LUNCHEON THE GRASS” showing a naked women sitting with two gentlemen fully and formally dressed, looking directly into the eyes of viewers, this painting was really hard to digest for the French society at that time, despite the fact that French society was quite interactive with traditional “Nudes”, whereas “OLYMPIA” by the same artist was bold enough “nude” to get appreciation for the impressionist.

Goya’s (1746-1828) “NUDE MAJA” and Dega’s (1834-1880) key hole nudes of bathing women got applause and popularity in their respective times that helped this art to get the status of serious art rather scramble to sensuous feelings alone especially Dega’s crafty figures well knit with softness of pastels, became a byword of technique and thought. In 20th century, cubism owing to its sharp and misty combination in shape and concept struck art by means of pinching edges and overlapped images. Nude painting got more space to articulate itself, as the obscure and hazy ambiance gave artists the opportunity to avoid meticulous anatomical details to enlarge the conceptual and subjective aspect regarding this very art. Pablo Picasso was one of those artists, who not only gave nudes a new touch, but also caused the whole expression an indirect approach in terms of technique for certain circumlocutory subjects.

There was another stream of nude paintings that was neither sacred nor arty, but only sensuous; this art was in demand for dance floors, casinos, brothel houses and strip clubs. etc. it could not get any place in serious art but these paintings have got different, innovative ideas and twitching figures, definitely required perfection in skill as far as anatomical problems are concerned. Everywhere on earth, where art exists, nudes exist too.

In Pakistan even normal art has been taboo, then what about “nude art”? It must not exist here! It does exist, and Pakistan has got some real adroit painters who could fashion the human anatomy with their skill and imagination and furnish the canvas to the level of “a treat to watch”. Talism-e-Hoshruba by Ustad Alla Bakhsh has got tinges of semi exposed human bodies in a mystical atmosphere. Sadqain’s paintings give you an idea about bodies of active, working human beings that do not come under nudes but do reflect painter’s skill.

Shakir Ali, we could say, was the first one to paint abstract nudes as real art in Pakistan. His strong contours, dark bold colors and conceptual attitude, truly distinguish him from his contemporaries. Shakir experimented in showing women’s body in a hidden abstract approach. Among the new generation, Saeed Akhter, with his realistic style of work has contributed valiantly in this prohibited art form while Jamal Naqsh sharpened the edges of his ideas along with nude figures in his paintings done in knife work.

Art is what a person thinks about and the way of thinking, so the expression has been close to nature where sometimes norms and values cannot be considered.

Bernard Berenson (1897) said,
“Not what man knows but what man feels concerns art. All else is science.”