Is nudity too much for art lovers today, asks Mary Beard
PROFESSOR MARY BEARD is to present a BBC documentary asking whether the nude in art is too “exploitative” for the Metoo era.
The Shock of the Nude is described as a “timely and provocative” two-part series, taking Prof Beard from the study of ancient Greek statues to a modern hen party featuring a naked male model at a life drawing class.
Inspiration for the series came in part from Manchester Art Gallery’s decision last year to remove from display John William Waterhouse’s Pre-raphaelite painting Hylas and the Nymphs.
The work was taken down to “prompt conversation” about the appropriateness of an image that featured bare-breasted nymphs and a clothed man.
“It has been mind-blowing fun making this programme, and thinking not so much about the history of the nude, but about why naked bodies in art have always been problematic and edgy,” Prof Beard said.
The BBC Two series will air next year. Deborah Lee, its director, said: “We often take the nude for granted because it has become such a staple in galleries. Actually, the nude body in art has been, and still is, incredibly provocative. Once you start thinking about what it might signify and what assumptions it is making, particularly in art that worked on the basis of the male gaze, it is a very contentious area ... and Mary has an ambition to remind us of those things again.”
Jonty Claypole, the BBC director of arts, declined to say if Prof Beard would be posing naked for the series. “I don’t want to do any spoilers,” he said.
The series is part of new arts programming for the BBC. Other television highlights include biographies of Henri Matisse and Lee Miller, Simon Schama’s study of The Romantic Revolution, and Samira Ahmed exploring the ancient and modern history of Iran in The Art of Being Persian.