Image series 28 / 2022: Male Nudes

Drawings and Prints

10 July 2022 | By: Bettina Pfleging

Start image

Ancient heroes with athletic bodies, Christian martyrs in pain-distorted poses, bathers and recreational athletes, classical nude models and self-portraits: in art over the centuries the naked male body can be found in all variations. It evokes conflicting emotions, admiration and shame, innocence and guilt, passion and suffering, and can have very different meanings.
On display in the exhibition are nearly 80 works: drawings and prints from the 15th to the 20th century. Ideal nudes and individual bodies are juxtaposed, posing timeless questions about beauty and masculinity.

„The Naked Truth. The Male Nude on Paper“
July 6 to November 6, 2022, Kunsthalle Bremen

01

Albrecht Dürer. Saint Sebastian Tied to a Tree, ca. 1501, Engraving, 11,5 × 7 cm, New York; Metropolitan Museum of Art

02

Hendrick Goltzius. Herkules Farnese | The Farnese Hercules, 1592, 41,5 × 29,5 cm, Copenhagen; Statens Museum for Kunst

03

Peter Paul Rubens. Prometheus; männlicher Akt auf dem Rücken liegend, Ausschnitt, um 1610/1611, Kreide, 42,3 × 54,8 cm, Paris; DadaWeb, Universität zu Köln, Kunsthistorisches Institut

04

Harmensz van Rijn Rembrandt. Männlicher Akt, sitzend, Ausschnitt, 1646, Papier; DadaWeb, Universität zu Köln, Kunsthistorisches Institut

05

Angelika Kauffmann. Rückenakt, Ausschnitt, ca. 1762 bis 1766, Kreide, London; ConedaKOR Frankfurt, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, Kunstgeschichtliches Institut

06

Anton Raphael Mengs. Seated Nude Male, Black chalk, heightening with white, brown wash (?), on gray-brown paper, 54,7 × 39,7 cm, New York; Metropolitan Museum of Art

07

Paul Cézanne. Stehender männlicher Akt – akademische Studie, 1862, Graphit auf Papier, Aix-en-Provence; EasyDB, Universität Bern, Institut für Kunstgeschichte, Universitätsbibliothek Bern

08

Max Beckmann. Sleeping Athlete [III] [Schlafender Athlet], Ausschnitt, 1946 bis 1948, aquarellierte Lithographie, ca. 40 × 30 cm; ConedaKOR, Universität des Saarlandes, Fachrichtung Kunst- und Kulturwissenschaft