Nude Art Or Erotic Art?
Are they the same or is one art and the other porn?
Nude Art
The human form has been a central theme of art since early people daubed pictures on their cave walls. Nude art has progressed from the statues of Ancient Greece, through Renaissance artists to modern painters such as Lucienne Freud, and photographers.
The intention of the artist when depicting the nude is known only to them but let us assume that it is one or all of the following: to inform; to stimulate interest or debate; to create a work that is regarded by society as having aesthetic merit.
Erotic Art
Erotic art was not far behind. From early bronze age fertility symbols through the statues with huge phallus’s dug out of the Roman ruins of Pompeii to present day photography and film making, image makers have produced art that is intended to arouse the viewer. In order to be considered erotic art rather than just porn the images should have aesthetic merit.
Is it Pornographic? Is it Obscene? Who Knows? Read this thought provoking article by Elle Beau
This could bring us to a neat conclusion:
Nude Art: The artists intention is to show the beauty, shape and/or character of the human form.
Erotic Art: The artists intention is to arouse the viewer.
What is erotic?
Those that view any depiction of the naked human body as titillating would argue that there is no discernible difference. True, it is impossible for an artist to remove any erotic connotations from a work for all viewers; someone, somewhere is going to find an image of a model clad head to toe in a bin bag erotic. This raises the question, is it the lack of nudity that transforms a picture from nude art to erotic art? As soon as the artist adds clothing, drapes or anything that conceals parts of the body, especially the erogenous zones, are they creating erotica? Does the viewers imagination spring to life conjuring up images of hidden delights that stimulates arousal?
If we introduce fetish clothing then for a lot of viewers the message becomes clear; the artists intention is to arouse. But then, as in the previous example, one person’s fetish is another’s garbage disposal bag.
Judging which genre contemporary images fall into may appear relatively easy as the viewer is aware of the social restraints and norms under which the image was created, There is almost an unwritten visual language in society at any given time that defines what is seen as acceptable nude art, erotic art or pornographic. This has changed over the forty years I have been taking photographs; in the seventies and eighties many photography magazines featured semi naked women on their covers which would mean they would now be relegated to the top shelf and covered with a discreet black bag. Look further back and the changes become more pronounced.
For example look at images illustrating the legend of Perseus and Andromeda. They feature a woman chained or tied to a rock. In an Apulian Red Figure Vase, ca. 430–420 BC a fully dressed Andromeda is tied for sacrifice by a naked man. In a first century fresco from Pompeii she is still clothed and being rescued by a naked Perseus. By the 16th century both are naked in art and by the 19th Perseus is fully dressed and Andromeda is naked. There must be elements of erotica and art in all of these depictions but are they nude art, erotic art or fetish art? To some extent the age of an artwork also influences which genre we tend to fit it into. If it is old it must be nude art rather than erotic art.
With all art, but especially with images that depict nudity, the definition of what is artistic, erotic or pornographic will ultimately lie with the viewer. It is easy to censor the display of nipples and genitals, which rules out the display of a lot of classical images, but almost impossible to hide the erotic from society since someone, somewhere, is going to find it arousing.
