Nude Art

nude art paintings

So, why do I paint nudes?

Why do I feature nude figures in so many of my paintings, from my Relationships Series to the recent Disasters of War? It would certainly be easier to market my artwork if I just painted landscapes: no more polite rejections from venues; no shadowbans from Instagram. But no subject interests me quite as much as the human figure.
I have always been fascinated with depictions of the human form in art. Maybe it started with my early love of comics, and the idealised perfection of superhuman figures cavorting across their pages. It might have been when I first set eyes on Tintoretto’s or Titian’s glorious mythological masterpieces in the National Gallery. It was a fascination cemented by my introduction to life drawing at art school.

Sexuality

detail from painting woman on bed

The depiction of the nude is a complicated subject in the 21st Century. It would be naive to suggest we can continue to paint the nude figure as it has always been painted. Many of the naked figures that now adorn the walls of our galleries were originally produced as thinly veiled titillation for their wealthy owners. I have started to question my own motivations for painting certain figures nude. When I work on paintings about the “male gaze” I cannot ignore the fact that, as a man, I might well have the same predilections that I happily mock in other people.

The Nude in Modern Art

Edouard ManetOlympia 1863, possibly the first modern nude in art
Olympia by Edouard Manet, painted 1863

I was taught at art school that Manet’s Olympia (shown above) was one of the first modern nudes in art, and it is probably the single strongest influence on my artistic development. With no pretence of being an otherworldly goddess, this was a contemporary naked woman staring right back at the viewer. It is a naked portrait.
Manet was probably prepared for the outrage it caused, having provoked a similar scandal with his “Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe”.  I read an interesting article about that painting and the controversy it caused on Artsy.net
When looking at the nude throughout the history of western art, you have to consider that the perception of the naked body in art depends on when and where the viewer was from. The nude becomes more like a dynamic idea, and the forces that alter our perception of the nude are changing all the time. In my short career as an artist I have had to reassess my approach to the subject a couple of times.

Artists will always push boundaries

entrance to Marina Abramović exhibition, where visitors have to squeeze between two naked figures
Photo: Royal Academy of Arts/David Parry

Just as Manet created a stir in the Salon, artist Marina Abramović recently caused some discomfort amongst visitors to her Royal Academy exhibition. by making them squeeze between two nude models to enter it (as in the photo above). It’s an interesting idea – remove the option for the viewer to remain a detached observer; force them to confront the nakedness of the models’ bodies. In news coverage of this long awaited retrospective, this unusual entrance has unfortunately become the headline: “Visitors invited to squeeze through naked models”
In a world awash with pornographic images on the internet, I wonder what boundaries artists have left to push in visual art. Good art should challenge us, and should test our sensibilities. But gratuitous nudity can be tiresome, and it is something I try to be alert to in my own work.

Relationships Series

detail from painting of nude man and woman sat on bed
Detail from Relationships Series painting

My professional art practice started with my Relationships Series paintings, where I explored the relationship between two figures within a composition in both a spatial and an emotional sense (examples shown above and below). This series began as an honest portrayal of my own relationship with my partner and developed into a broader examination of relationships in general.

painting with two nude women

I became aware that the interpretation of most viewers was overwhelmingly sexual, which wasn’t really my intention. Although as the artist I don’t have much control over how the viewer will interpret my work (some people will always associate nudity with sex), it did give me pause for thought about how I wanted to develop this project.
You can see paintings from this series here: Relationships Gallery

Objectification and #selflove

painting of nude woman
Exercise in Objectification

Over the years I have received various commissions for nude portraits. The main motivations for women were self-empowerment and body positivity, which I respect and admire.
I started a project called “Unnamed Portraits” which I thought might facilitate the same outcome for anyone who wanted to pose. With these artworks  I would purposely crop the faces from the paintings, focusing instead on the naked body. I had a good response from potential models willing to pose for me . I suspect the readiness to pose stemmed from the same motivations as my nude portrait customers – essentially wanting to feel good about your body.

two naked portraits, unnamed portraits shown at the london ultra art exhibition
Unnamed Portraits on show at the London Ultra 2018

The risk with this project was that instead of enabling female empowerment, my paintings were instead reinforcing male objectification. It’s that thorny old problem of interpretation.
My biggest takeaway from this project was that I missed painting the model’s face. I have always considered my nude paintings as an extension of my portrait practice, and the headless nudes felt somewhat diminished.

#metoo and the male gaze

painting of men in suits with nude women
Men in Suits

I have already written at length about my experience painting “Men in Suits”, so won’t repeat myself here. The original post is here: Men in Suits.
I mention this painting as it was a defining moment in my artistic development, where I identified the themes that I wanted to explore with my art, which I went on to develop over the next couple of years. This painting took so long to finish that the main motivation behind it – the #metoo movement – had long since disappeared from the headlines.

Jeffrey Epstein and Prince Andrew

detail from the judgement of men
Continuing the theme with The Judgement of Men (detail)

Misogyny and male menace are still pervasive in our patriarchal society. #metoo might not be on the frontpages now, but the underlying causes for the movement are still there. Recent court proceedings have put Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein back into the headlines. They were the subject of my painting The Judgement of Men shown above.
You can see more of my paintings that deal with these issues here: Recent Work

Nakedness and Vulnerability

a painting inspired by Goya's the disasters of war, with putin and prigozhin overseeing atrocities, with naked bodies hung from trees
the disasters of war

So why did I include so many naked figures in my latest painting The Disasters of War? The keyword here is naked. These figures are naked, exposed and vulnerable. Their nakedness has been forced on them as an act of humiliation and degradation.
But despite this and their terrible situation, they preserve a sense of quiet dignity; there is a beauty about them. The figure on the left is based on Rubens’ Christ Descending from the Cross.

Although the naked figures are in no way sexualised, I wanted there to be an erotic undertone to the masked female figure wielding the knife. This alludes to the base instincts and urges that are feeding this awful war. When I witness the raptures of joy displayed with every killed soldier, I wonder just how close sex and violence are on the spectrum of primal instincts.

Male Menace and Future Work

The theme that I keep returning to in my recent work is male menace, and male objectification of women. These character traits (or flaws) have always been around. I cringe when I think about what was considered acceptable behaviour when I was young.
I have featured the likes of Prince Andrew in a number of my paintings, calling out his bad behaviour. But these paintings are really about all men.  We are all culpable, including myself. This is why in my painting Men in Suits I included myself in the back, amongst the various sex pests and offenders. I also added a masked figure, who could well represent you, the viewer.

layout of artwork inspired by the rite of spring
Proposal for artwork inspired by the Rite of Spring

The layout above was my proposal for the Concord Art Prize – a competition for artworks inspired by a piece of music. My proposal was inspired by The Rite of Spring – a composition that has everything. Starting with a joyful innocence, it builds up slowly, ending in a dizzying climax – a frantic menacing finale. It was going to be the convergence of a number of themes that run through my work: beauty; sexuality; lechery; male menace.
It was disappointing that my proposal wasn’t accepted. I am confident that it would be an interesting project, and haven’t ruled out developing it further. I wrote more about the painting here: Rite of Spring

Pictures of People

The art that excites me most and the paintings that I like to create all feature people. I am fascinated with how artists over the years have depicted their sitters, whether it is a society portrait or a painting of a hired nude model.  Although my most recent anti-war paintings may have intended to shock with their use of nudity, most of my earlier nude paintings were meant as sympathetic portraits. My art practice now is more focused on portrait painting, but going forward I don’t really see a clear distinction between that work and my paintings of the nude.

nude portrait of artist model
portrait of a model

Man and Woman

figurative artist peter d'alessandri with his painting man and woman

“Man and Woman” is a painting that I thought was finished over ten years ago. I’ve suffered years of nagging doubts, and a real reluctance to show it publicly, such that I finally decided to rework it.
It was only going to be a small amendment, but in the end I had to repaint the entire surface.

It’s debatable about how much the revision is an improvement. The poses are almost identical. Some people might prefer the earlier version. That’s irrelevant. I feel that the later revision is much closer to the painting that I tried to produce in 2009. Although the original version was no doubt true to the reference photos I was working from, I don’t think it captured a true likeness of the female figure.

I should explain something about the background to this painting. My partner had just passed away after a long illness, and in a splurge of activity I set about working on a series of paintings that recorded my lost partner and our relationship. Most had been planned while she was still alive (I had taken reference photos and made preparatory sketches), but sadly her poor health meant I was unable to work on them at the time. This was the last of that series, and for some reason it was the only one I was unhappy with.

figurative artist peter d'alessandri working on his painting man and woman

The problem with resuming work on a painting after such a long time is that my painting technique has changed over the years. I still start with a monochrome underpainting, but my palette of colours has changed considerably, I use different mediums, and my use of glazes has become more restrained.
Nevertheless it was an interesting exercise. The photo below shows a lighter palette in the revised painting.

Original painting on left, with umbers and ochre dominating the palette

Another interesting aspect of this exercise is that I no longer have the original reference photos. Much of the work on my late partner’s face was done from memory, which would normally have been outside my comfort zone. One area where my painting has changed is that I am less beholden to reference photos, and feel more confident to wander off track. I believe that I have achieved a better likeness here by doing just that.
In writing this post, and looking at photos of the two versions side by side, it does feel like a lot of work for only a small change. But it was worth it. I feel happier showing it now.

Edit: “Man and Woman” has since been shortlisted for the LGC Art Prize 2023
A recent post about the competition can be found here:  LGC Art Prize

So who are the men in suits, and how Michael Armitage saved this painting.

The artist and his painting The Men in Suits, including Prince Andrew, Epstein, Weinstein
Men in Suits, including Prince Andrew, Epstein, Weinstein

Who are these men in suits, staring lasciviously at a group of young naked women performing a macabre dance for their pleasure? Is that Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein along with Harvey Weinstein?

detail from men in suits painting with prince andrew, jeffrey epstein and harvey weinstein

I will try to explain, but first I have to thank Michael Armitage for helping me finish this painting. Well, not the man himself (I’ve never met him, and no doubt he’s never heard of me), but his masterpiece “#mydressmychoice”.

I’d been struggling with my painting for a few years – constantly repainting and changing the background. I knew what I wanted to say, but didn’t know how to say it. And then, about this time last year, while looking around the Radical Figures exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery, I had my eureka moment. I had stumbled upon Michael Armitage’s superb painting #mydressmychoice and suddenly it seemed so obvious what I had to do.

detail of the painting #mydressmychoice by michael armitage
detail of the painting #mydressmychoice by michael armitage

I needed a collection of seedy, smirking, sweaty middle aged men to fill the background – all dressed in suits with patent leather shoes. So who could I choose? That was easy; you can find them everywhere: A disgraced politician; a Prince of the Realm; convicted sex offenders Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein. I even added my own likeness, leering  in the top left, standing next to someone wearing a mask, who could well be you.

closeup detail of men in suits, with jeffrey epstein and harvey weinstein

The problem with this painting was that it had originally been intended as part of a larger composition with a different story. I abandoned that project, after spending an awful lot of time and money on it – it just didn’t work visually when I scaled it up to full size. But I did like this particular section, and the sentiment it evoked. And so I continued working on it. For four whole years. But still it didn’t work. And then I saw Michael Armitage’s painting, and I knew how to fix it.
So, after nearly four years of frustratingly little progress, it turned out to be quite easy to finish the painting in the end. Below is a short video of me adding the figures to the background.

The Judgement of Men – a recent painting

judgement of men oil painting, depicting prince andrew and jeffrey epstein passing judgement on three women on a beach
Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein in a contemporary version of The Judgement of Paris

The male gaze.

Prince Andrew naked, proffering a golden apple to some naked women. Jeffrey Epstein by his side, gesturing to the same women. What’s happening here?
“The Judgement of Men”  is a reworking of the classic Judgement of Paris by Rubens. This new version is a painting about male menace, predatory behaviour and misogyny.
I must admit to having been, only on rare occasions, one of those men; sitting in a group, talking loudly and ogling women walking past.  I do feel a little embarrassed, and feel also a sense of complicity. Perhaps that’s why the male gaze has become a recurring theme in my recent work; maybe I’m seeking redemption.

This painting is available to buy at Singulart Online Gallery

prince andrew naked with jeffrey epstein, in a recreation of the judgement of paris
Prince Andrew naked, with his friend Epstein, in a recreation of The Judgement of Paris

I was particularly interested in painting something based on The Judgement of Paris, because it really  is such an anachronism in the present day, and seems to me an epitome of the male gaze. For the character of Paris, I painted a figure with more than a passing resemblance to Prince Andrew; looking somewhat disempowered in his nakedness. By his side, to replace Hermes (Mercury) in the original Rubens paintings, I painted someone resembling Jeffrey Epstein. Amongst other things, Mercury is the god of financial gain, eloquence, trickery, and thieves; he also serves as the guide of souls to the underworld.

The judgement of paris by peter paul rubens
The Judgement of Paris by Rubens

Above is the source of my inspiration – The Judgement of Paris painted by Peter Paul Rubens in 1636. It shows Rubens’ version of idealised feminine beauty, with the goddesses Aphrodite, Athena and Hera on one side and Paris accompanied by Hermes

Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Autumn Salon Exhibition

preparing paintings for the autumn salon exhibition

Art exhibitions are like London buses. I wait months for an opportunity to show my work, and then I receive two acceptance emails in the same morning.
I’ve already mentioned The Discerning Eye in my previous post. I’m very pleased to have been accepted for that one – such a shame that the exhibition is virtual this year. The other exhibition I will be taking part in is The Autumn Salon, from 30th October, hosted by Candid Arts Gallery, Angel, London. That’s a real world exhibition – actual paintings on real walls, with real people walking about (albeit wearing masks, and suitably socially distanced).
I’ve had mixed feelings about getting involved in real exhibitions during this epidemic. However, the gallery at Candid Arts is a lovely open space – perfect for social distancing.  At the end of the day, there is just no substitute for seeing a painting in the flesh.