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.

Egon Schiele: The Radical Nude

Egon Schiele
The Radical Nude
The Courtauld Institute of Art

«Woman in boots with raised skirt, 1918
Black crayon
This drawing shows Schiele at the heights of his powers as a draughtsman, in what would prove to be the last year of his life. Deftly rendered in black crayon, the difficulty of capturing the woman's complex pose is made to look effortless. Indeed, our attention is consumed by her seductive gaze and the glimpse of her exposed vagina. The drawing epitomises Schiele's ability in his last years to combine provocation, erotism, technical virtuosity and aesthetic beauty in a single image.»

Robert Mapplethorpe: Fashion Show

Robert Mapplethorpe
Fashion Show
Alison Jacques Gallery

«Robert Mapplethorpe (b. New York, NY, 1946; d. Boston, MA, 1989) studied for a B.F.A. from The Pratt Institute, before embarking on a career of over 50 solo exhibitions during his life, including numerous museum shows in the USA, Europe and Japan. Recent UK solo shows include the touring Artists Rooms project that included the Robert Mapplethorpe: Photography and Sculpture, Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne (2010). In 2008, Tate and the National Galleries of Scotland jointly acquired one of the largest single acquisitions of Mapplethorpe photographs through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Art Fund.» [PR]