THE PHYSICALITY OF THE FEMALE NUDE THROUGH THE PRISM OF MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY PAINTING

Abstract

The article deals with the theme of the female nude with an emphasis on modern and contemporary painting. The motif is fat, grotesque bodies that deviate from social norms, rejecting the need for perfection. The research work started from the historical basis and the very role of the female nude throughout the history of art, from an object of beauty to a subject with its own identity. During the work, a parallel is drawn between naked female forms, which in the earlier period were painted in the context of shame, while in modern and contemporary painting, the nude is celebrated as the bearer of freedom. At the beginning of the 20th century, traditional representations of the female body began to change under the influence of cubism, expressionism and abstraction. Artists such as Egon Schiele and Pablo Picasso explored the shapes, proportions, emotional depth and complexity of women, pushing the boundaries of traditional representation. The need for an idealized figure is lost by accentuating the beauty of imperfection. In the contemporary history of painting, the female nude is no longer just an aesthetic motif, but becomes a means of criticism and research into social values.