Rubens and His Legacy

Rubens and His Legacy: Van Dyck to Cézanne
Royal Academy of Arts

"The triumph of Rubens's nudes is his magnificent evocation of the texture of human skin, represented in such a way it feels almost palpable. We see blood coursing through the veins of the voluptuous flesh. The delicate mother-of-pearl complexions of the female bodies radiate with light. Their soft skin suggests vulnerability and invites you to touch it. ... Rubens's nudes were, as per tradition, drawn from mythological, literary and sometimes biblical sources." [... in Gallery Guide...]

Let's be honest! Every art work is about sex! Pure and simple sex (homo- and hetero-) veiled under some other subject matter, like politics, religion, science, race, the exercise of power, etc. or the human body sensuality and sexuality while posing and interacting with those dynamics and conditions ruling contemporary life.