Pure Form

Collector's Focus: Art of the Nude

introduction By John O’Hern

In the myth of Ganymede, Zeus transforms into an eagle to abduct the beautiful Trojan shepherd Ganymede to be cup bearer to the gods. Since ancient times the kidnapping has been depicted in paintings and sculpture as a somewhat chaste abduction and, at other times, as a rape, Zeus carrying the boy off for his sexual pleasure.Stone Sparrow NYC, Trudge, oil and soot from the California wildfires on wood, 36 x 48" (framed), by Joshua Lawyer

The Danish sculptor, Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-1844) sculpted Ganymede with Jupiter’s Eagle in 1817. Jupiter is the Roman equivalent of the Greek god Zeus. Ganymede wears a Phrygian cap in reference to his coming from Phrygia. Ancient artists often depicted mythological figures wearing the cap to indicate their eastern Mediterranean origin.Radius Gallery, Heard II, clay, glaze, wax encaustic and mixed media on steel base, 27½ x 20½ x 14", by Adrian Arleo

As cupbearer, Ganymede has poured wine into a cup for the god-as-eagle to drink. Nude and, therefore, symbolically vulnerable, Ganymede is rendered in highly polished marble to indicate his young, smooth skin while Zeus’ feathers are rendered in high detail and his sharp beak and threatening look command the center of the composition.RJD Gallery, Undercurrents, colored pencil on board, 26 x 39", by Jesse Lane

Stone Sparrow NYC, Harvest, oil on wood, 23½ x 18" (framed), by Joshua Lawyer

The relationship between human and animal throughout history has taken many forms from the almost mystical relationship of cave artists to representations of man’s dominion over the beast, to a realization that both are creatures sharing the same environment.

Michael Bergt presents animal as other in his egg tempera painting Succumb. A reclining female is enveloped in the writhing tentacles of an octopus.

Bergt says, “Succumb is in the tradition of Hokusai’s print, known as The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife, but the actual title is The Girl Diver and Octopi. It is his most famous erotic shunga image. I wanted the same sense of being overwhelmed by the number of arms the octopus has, but instead of it being a frightening encounter, the figure has succumbed to the power of being taken and has surrendered. So much of erotic art is about that tension between the encounter, and the ultimate surrender...We all carry our own resistance, fears and avoidances. At a certain point, we either realize we can’t overcome them, or we surrender to what is.”Top: Haven Gallery, Succumb, egg tempera on panel, 18 x 24", by Michael Bergt. Bottom, from left: E. Gibbons, Light Offering, oil on canvas, 30 x 30" ; E. Gibbons, Troubled, oil on canvas, 30 x 30"; John C. Doyle Art Gallery, Indigo, oil on canvas, 36 x 24", by John Carroll Doyle (1942-2014)

In Adrian Arleo’s clay sculpture, Heard II, a woman appears, at first, to be overwhelmed by a concatenation of deer. At the beginning of the last century, she might have been dressed decorously with no flesh showing but her face and a boa made of a dead fox around her neck.

Arleo explains, “For 40 years, my sculpture has combined human, animal and natural imagery to create a kind of emotional and poetic power. Often there’s a suggestion of a vital interconnection between the human and non-human realms; the imagery arises from associations, concerns and obsessions that are at once intimate and universal.”John C. Doyle Art Gallery, MASQUERADE, oil, 60 x 36", by John Carroll Doyle (1942-2014)

Stone Sparrow NYC, Tectonic, oil on wood, 24 x 20" (framed), by Joshua Lawyer

When she began the first of her Heard sculptures, she says, “I found myself thinking of veterans, with PTSD, who can’t sleep unless they have a dog with them. A dog, they feel, is a sentinel and protector; it allows them to be ‘off duty.’ Though the Heard pieces were inspired by a moment of mass terror [a 2015 terrorist attack in Paris], and though deer are spring-loaded with the instinct to flee, these herds offer that sentinel role to the woman they enclose. They are watchful; evaluating the moment; embodying a tense tranquility; vigilant but not afraid. For me these pieces, again, tie into my appreciation of the fact that we are not a separate entity from all of nature, in life or in death. Our fears might be eased somewhat by that connection. We are not separate.”RJD Gallery, Surrender, colored pencil on board, 17 x 36", by Jesse Lane.

The human form has fascinated and taken hold of artists for centuries. In this special section, collectors will find modern examples of artists captivated by the human body in its purest form, and the many stories it can tell.

John C. Doyle Art Gallery in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, showcases the artwork of the late John Carroll Doyle, and other talented contemporary artists. “John Doyle...loved celebrating the femininity of women in his paintings, photography and everyday life. Throughout his long career, he was always inspired to capture the timeless skin tones and light of the nude female figure, and most importantly, to tell the viewer a story,” says gallery director Angela Stump. “He reflected vulnerable secrets of humanity in his nudes that I believe revealed just as much about the artist as the subject. Nude art buyers are special to me, and it is always thrilling as a gallery director to drop that veil of discomfort many have around nudity in art, and revel with collectors who enjoy the genuine experience of adding nude art to their daily lives.”Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-1844), Ganymede with Jupiter’s Eagle, 1817, marble, 367/10 x 46½". Thorvaldsens Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark

Bordentown, New Jersey, painter E. Gibbons has artwork in both private and public collections around the country. “As others figuratively create boxes to put people in, I create boxes and put figures in. My paintings are allegories of my life,” he says. “Don’t be afraid to buy what you love, the art will whisper back to you as a lover only can.”Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-1844), Ganymede with Jupiter’s Eagle, 1817, marble, 367/10 x 46½". Thorvaldsens Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark

John C. Doyle Art Gallery, PRIMAVERA, oil on linen, 24 x 36", by John Carroll Doyle (1942-2014).

RJD Gallery in Romeo, Michigan, muses on the art of nudes: “Nudes are an exciting art form as they illuminate our commonality and show us at both our most vulnerable and most powerful. The human body, perfect in its imperfections, shows us to ourselves, as if to say, ‘here I am, as I am.’ With the art of the nude, even with all revealed, there remains an air of mystery reflecting that which exists in all of us.”

The art of John Cutruzzola is about “the moment.” His work captures the evolution of our lives, the pain, the joy, the passion and despair, and it is about capturing those particular moments and aspects of our lives.Top row, from left: RJD Gallery, Moonglow, oil on canvas, 36 x 48", by Stephen Wright; John Cutruzzola, Motherhood, oil on canvas, 54 x 42". Bottom row, from left: John Cutruzzola, Dolcezza, oil on canvas, 40 x 38"; John Cutruzzola, Soar the Spirit High, oil on canvas, 58 x 62"; John Cutruzzola, Grace, oil on canvas, 24 x 24"

Joshua Lawyer, represented by Stone Sparrow NYC, creates artwork that is wonderfully layered in medium and in thought, making them both visually compelling and technically interesting. A self-taught talent, turning to fine art after beginning his art journey as a street artist, Lawyer is a wonderful source of storytelling told with vivid color and haunting figures. “Whatever you want to call her, grim reaper, Medusa, Thanos, morta, Yama or Whiro-te-tipua, she is the last great adventure you will ever have,” Lawyer says of his oil on wood Harvest. “The true unknown, the great harvest. She is heartache and relief, the fear we all have to come to terms with. Beguiling is her beauty, her floral tapestry. But her perfume reeks from her ‘Harvest.’” More of Lawyer’s work can be explored in the group exhibition The Devil is in the Details at Stone Sparrow NYC running from October 20 to November 24. —