Exploring historical and contemporary visual practice (that relates to your specialism)
I researched the work of many artists and art movements whilst working on this project, both historical and contemporary.
When thinking of how womens appearance has been judged through history, one of the first terms to come to mind was 'Rubenesque'. It is a modern term referring to the artist Peter Paul Rubens and his paintings of voluptuous nudes, implying that a woman has a fuller figure or is a bit plump (I love the word plump!).
Peter Paul Rubens was a Flemish painter, born 1577 and died 1640. His works mainly depict classical scenes from historical texts.
In the 17th century, overweight and curvy women were considered attractive as it was a sign of wealth and good health. Being skinny would be a sign of poverty and malnourishment.
Here, the Nereids, or Sea Nymphs that accompany Neptune and Triton ensuring the safe passage of Marie de Medici to Marseilles, are depicted as quite fat, whilst the future queen is dressed in the fashion of the day - full skirts with bustles that imply wide hips and a big bottom, tiny cinched waist and up-thrust bust! All designed to emphasise the curves of a womans body.
For a contemporary comparison, I don't think it's really fair to compare the artwork of the 17th century with that of the 21st. Times have changed, and whilst the paintings of the 17th century may depict what is considered beautiful at the time, with idealised forms, that is not the case today. As such, using artist Jenny Saville, for example, as an example of a contemporary artists depiction of women would not be a reflection of what society sees as an ideal shape for women. She depicts images of what society perceives as the imperfect form - fat, disease states, transgender, liposuction, trauma victims and deformity correction.
As such, I think beauty photography in fashion magazines such as Vogue may be a more accurate representation of what is currently considered as attractive by society.
In the 1920's & 30's the flapper was the ideal - skinny, boy-like figures. In the 1940's & '50's, the curves of Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield and Gina Lollobrigida were the shapes to aspire to. Since the 1960's, with models like Twiggy, then in the 1990's with 'heroin chic' and most recently in the 2000's the obsession with 'size 0', it seems to have become more and more desirable to be as skinny as possible.
When thinking of how womens appearance has been judged through history, one of the first terms to come to mind was 'Rubenesque'. It is a modern term referring to the artist Peter Paul Rubens and his paintings of voluptuous nudes, implying that a woman has a fuller figure or is a bit plump (I love the word plump!).
Peter Paul Rubens was a Flemish painter, born 1577 and died 1640. His works mainly depict classical scenes from historical texts.
 |
| THE LANDING OF MARIE DE MEDICI AT MARSEILLES 1623-25 |
In the 17th century, overweight and curvy women were considered attractive as it was a sign of wealth and good health. Being skinny would be a sign of poverty and malnourishment.
Here, the Nereids, or Sea Nymphs that accompany Neptune and Triton ensuring the safe passage of Marie de Medici to Marseilles, are depicted as quite fat, whilst the future queen is dressed in the fashion of the day - full skirts with bustles that imply wide hips and a big bottom, tiny cinched waist and up-thrust bust! All designed to emphasise the curves of a womans body.
For a contemporary comparison, I don't think it's really fair to compare the artwork of the 17th century with that of the 21st. Times have changed, and whilst the paintings of the 17th century may depict what is considered beautiful at the time, with idealised forms, that is not the case today. As such, using artist Jenny Saville, for example, as an example of a contemporary artists depiction of women would not be a reflection of what society sees as an ideal shape for women. She depicts images of what society perceives as the imperfect form - fat, disease states, transgender, liposuction, trauma victims and deformity correction.
 |
| Jenny Saville - Passage |
As such, I think beauty photography in fashion magazines such as Vogue may be a more accurate representation of what is currently considered as attractive by society.
 |
| a photo from December 2011 Vogue Italia cover shoot featuring Karlie Kloss, removed from the website because of complaints that she looked to skinny |
 |
| Photo of Tess Holliday from Vogue Italia May 2015 |
Suddenly in the last decade (2010's), there seems to be a backlash against this trend.
So if you take a step back from it all, in future it will appear that the 20th & early 21st century embraced all sizes and shapes of women, but it's not quite like that is it?
So if you take a step back from it all, in future it will appear that the 20th & early 21st century embraced all sizes and shapes of women, but it's not quite like that is it?
Major fashion houses are banning size 0 models and photographs of skinny models are being removed from websites due to complaints. Plus size models such as Tess Holliday, Candice Huffine, Robyn Lawley and Ashley Graham are becoming more and more popular on social media and have attracted the attention of the likes of Vogue.
In these times of political correctness, of course we are thrilled that the larger lady is heading into the limelight, however it seems rather hypocritical to start banning size 0 models for being unhealthy, whilst the popularity of the plus size model soars. Both have potential health risks. Why should there be a size/beauty ideal? All women should be considered beautiful regardless of size, race, age etc...we shouldn't be worrying about what we look like, we should be worrying about our health.
In these times of political correctness, of course we are thrilled that the larger lady is heading into the limelight, however it seems rather hypocritical to start banning size 0 models for being unhealthy, whilst the popularity of the plus size model soars. Both have potential health risks. Why should there be a size/beauty ideal? All women should be considered beautiful regardless of size, race, age etc...we shouldn't be worrying about what we look like, we should be worrying about our health.
Comments
Post a Comment