Thoughts on "The Nude" in Art

And who is so barbarous as not to understand that the foot of a man is nobler than his shoe, and his skin nobler than that of the sheep with which he is clothed.
-Michelangelo

He who does not master the nude, cannot understand the principles of architecture. -Michelangelo

Libyan Sibyl from the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo, thought by some to be a male model for a female figure.

When we respect the nude, we will no longer have any shame about it. -Robert Henri

I look at a nude. There are myriads of tiny tints. I must find the ones that will make the flesh on my canvas live and quiver.
-Pierre-Auguste Renoir


There is no subject I can paint which is more frustrating and at the same time extremely satisfying than the figure.
-Ryan Swallow

I never think I have finished a nude until I think I could pinch it.
-Pierre-Auguste Renoir



It's the most important study there is and the most challenging and the most difficult. -Wayne Thiebaud -on drawing the nude

Bikini by Wayne Thiebaud

John Singer Sargent Quote

"Everytime I paint a portrait I lose a friend"













Favorites: "Spanish Dancer" & "Nude Egyptian Girl"

Hermanas II

An update of the progress on the newest painting - Hermanas II

Hermanas II

The beginnings of the latest painting I'm working on.

Lucian Freud Quote

I remember Francis Bacon would say that he felt he was giving art what he thought it previously lacked. With me, it's what Yeats called the fascination with what's difficult. I'm only trying to do what I can't do.

Fran Lebowitz quote

Very few people possess true artistic ability. It is therefore both unseemly and unproductive to irritate the situation by making an effort. If you have a burning, restless urge to write or paint, simply eat something sweet and the feeling will pass.
-Fran Lebowitz