Art for the Private Viewer
The Broad Usage of Sexual Figures in Art
Curated by Sree Balusu

Amedeo Modigliani, Reclining Nude, 1917

"She represents a powerful male fantasy of a highly sexual, supremely confident, alluring female offering endless pleasure and a bit of danger." Book 1, Chapter 1: The Siren, p. 11

Amedeo Modigliani is famous for his large series of nude paintings. These nudes lie on a dark bed cover that intensifies the glow of their skin. Their slender bodies span the width of the canvas. Their hands and feet often remain outside the frame of the image. They usually face the viewer, drawing him in temptingly and alluringly.

There is a key difference between Modigliani's nude paintings and many of those from earlier centures: the issue of context. Many earlier nude paintings had mythological or anecdotal context. Modigliani's paintings do not. In fact, Modigliani even said "The function of art is to struggle against obligation."

Modigliani believed that his paintings need only to depict the subjects he thinks of and not to serve the purpose of representing some separate concept. In his mind, art was not meant to be a slave to outside influences.

As expected, Modigliani's women appear more frank and outwardly provocative.

This painting is an example of how sexual figures in art have been used to create an erotic and inviting feeling for the viewer, while giving off an aura of mysteriousness and uncertainty. It is also remarkable in its depiction of eroticism for its own sake, instead of for representing mythology or literature.