Thursday, September 9, 2010

The Friday Evening Nudes

The Nudes of Aristide Maillol















 

Pagan Sphinx Photo


Santa Barbara Museum of Art




10 comments:

  1. Lovely (chunky) women!! Just like me.

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  2. I meant I'm chunky - not lovely - LOL!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Cloudia and Kenju: I'm glad you enjoyed this set!

    Fishing Guy: Thanks. The only image in this post that is mine is the one that says "Pagan Sphinx photo" under it. The other images are culled from the internet. Thanks for you visit!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I think Maillol captures the youthful fullness and fresh solid weight of his models. Without fussy detail he makes them seem more real, more present, than most sculpture or painting. Bronze seems like a perfect medium for these - the smooth polish, the dark color, emphasizes the curves, masses, and intersections which plainly fascinated him and gives a timelessness, a permanence that contrasts strongly (for me) with the rapid passing of youth.

    I have to admit, though, that my favorite is the painting with the blue and white cloth radiating out from her hand and breasts. I love all the movement, and the contrast of the cloth with the deep warm tones of her skin. And all those echoes, like the repeated waves of color in the drapery - in the upper left the cloth, ochre shape, hair, profile - and the soft upcurved red profile of her lips and of her right nipple...

    There is a respect for and awe of the female form that reminds me of Renoir. But where Renoir's nudes always seem to be smiling, or on the verge of smiling (of laughter, even), and seem to be comfortably in the viewer's company, Maillol's nudes seem to be in solitude, and have the silent gravity of introspection. There is an intensity instead of Renoir's sunny warmth. Renoir's subjects seem to be young mothers, or looking to have babies of their own soon, where Maillol's women give me no such impression.

    Thanks for posting these. I hadn't seen this many of his works at once before.

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  5. they're all beautiful
    I really like the 4th one down
    the color, the lines
    her hand is so lovely

    thanks for sharing lady
    hugs

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  6. Steve - thanks for your free-flowing descriptions. I always enjoy the touches you add to your comments on the art. The sculpture is my favorite.

    Kenju: you ARE lovely! So stop it! :-)

    Dianne: You bet! Hugs to you too

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  7. Excellent! another artist I did not know before. THanks!

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  8. Oh how nice! The Friday evening nudes are back. I like the paintings rather more than the sculptures but I find I usually do. I've met a few artists whose work goes from soft and dreamy when they paint to constructionist in sculpture. Only a few have been able to pull off both media to my satisfaction - ie, Michelangelo. I have high standards :-)

    ReplyDelete

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