It has been a long time since my previous comments on someone who paints nudes. My own preference of that popular theme belongs to the realistic or even naturalistic style especially if there is a little erotic bias. Eroticism attracts many but leaves others neutral. Obviously, artworks with or without erotic bias, lovely nudes have long (or likely always) been commercial success, even in the world of religions, when Eve was often a good excuse topaint naked femal bodies. The opposite is also true, remember the well known outcry generated by Michelangelo with the plenty of nudes on the Last Judgement at Sixtus Chapell. Nudes have also been painted with somewhat distorted forms especially for example in surrealistic and expressionist artworks, including sculptures. It is also fairly often used approach, when parts of the woman body is painted or carved in torso. Fort my present comment I picked two artists who prefers distorted women bodies.



Nieuwenhuys, Jan Nudes Date: 1944 Movement: CoBrA Theme: Nude Technique: Gouache.

The first of the selection represents an example of strong distorsions and using parts of body to help and orient perception. Parts taken from several bodies put in strange positions all over make the composition fairly complex. This approach contains considerable abstraction and freedom to reorganize components of bodies. Plenty of simplified schematic components are present too. The result is interesting to tell the minimum and stimulates perception of fragments both as a kind of assemblies or as relatively independent details . For me, the erotic bias is strong. Heads of the three figures are to be appreciated also as good examples of strong surrealistic feature.



Nieuwenhuys, Jan Odalisk Date: 1945 Movement: CoBrA Theme: Nude Technique: Gouache.

Another painting by the same artist is far closer to the realistic approach once again with some erotic tint. The body shown here is less distorted but portions of legs fail to be proportional. I appreciate the strong bright red wich promotes the erotic bias. Otherwise the composition as a whole is quite simple.



Whiteley, Brett Washing the Salt Off Date: 1985 Movement: Surrealism Theme: Nude Technique: Oil on canvas.

This painting by another artis contains strong distorsions, eliminations and very simplified details. For example the head of the nude does not look to be present but only her hair indicates where to be looking for it. Surrealism seems to be combined by fairly abstract parts, especially the oversimplified depicting of sea. Similar combination of fairly realistic, or destorted, oversimplified components frequently occur in surrealistic compositions by other artists too.



Whiteley, Brett Woman in Bath Date: 1964 Movement: Surrealism Theme: Nude Technique: Mixed technique.

Another example of headless body. It might indicate a supposition of the artist that women attract men by their body instead of their mind. It is of course not true even if many share this assumption. It is rather easy to give up assotiation with female body and consider parts, fragments resembling bodies combined to generate a perception independent of pure reality.



Whiteley, Brett Woman in bath Date: 1963 Movement: Surrealism Theme: Nude Technique: Mixed technique .

Here the strange angle of wiev looks to be most important part of the composition. Once again, the head of the nude is oversimplified to take as missing, and the legs are examples of strong abstraction.



Whiteley, Brett Portrait of Wendy Date: 1984 Movement: Surrealism Theme: Nude Technique: Mixed technique

In contrast with the above shown works, this one is far more realistic. Strong relationship with Japenese style and paintings of Modigliani is quite obvious. Here the head is the most realistic part of the beautiful girl, in harmony with the title: Portrait. Distorsions are present including complete elimination of space, disproportional elongation of one foreararm and the trunk, while some other parts of Wendy’s body are shortened. She seems to be a tall slim woman with well developed full brests painted to radiate erotics.