"The Language of the Nude" at Reed College Field Study Summary by Claire

General Summary
Once we arrived at the Cooley Gallery in the library of Reed College, we listened and talked with Gregory MacNaughton about "The Language of the Nude" exhibit. I enjoyed hearing what Gregory had to say and the questions he asked that caused me to think deeper. Afterwards, we did our own three-minute sketches of our classmates. It was stressful but fun. I appreciated how Gregory had something positive to say about every one's pieces. We left Reed and got back to SES in time for lunch.

Essential Questions
1. What was your overall impression of the exhibit?
I though that "The Language of the Nude" exhibit in the Cooley Gallery at Reed College was interesting because the drawings showed how people viewed the human body in the 1400s and the 1500s. The way gods and goddesses were included in many of the drawings showed how gods and goddesses influenced people and gave them inspiration. I though about what Gregory said, "Some of these drawings probably aren't even anatomically correct." I totally agree, because, besides the Incredible Hulk, most people do not have muscles on top of muscles on top of muscles. Each country's artists had different styles, and it gave a glimpse of how people's lifestyles change from place to place.

2. How does the development of observational skills assist in areas of life and study?
If you take times to look closely at a drawing, you can learn so much. Looking at the drawings I thought about what Gregory was saying about how a straight on or profile sketch isn't too difficult but when you change the angle so part of the face or body is obscured the sketch becomes much more difficult. I realized how much time all the artists must have spent to get even just a forearm exact. Listening to Gregory I viewed the drawings in a different way than I would have without his thought-provoking questions. By looking at "simple" seeming sketches and then moving past the "simpleness" I noticed what peoples body positions could be saying. The poses could hint at emotions, speech, and thought. I thought it was interesting how Gregory said that if you knew your gods and goddesses you could "read" quite a few of the drawings because of how much gods and goddesses influenced people and showed up in their art.

3. How do you think society's impression of the human body has changed from Michelangelo's time to today?
In some ways, I don't think society's impression of the human body has changed at all from Michelangelo's time to ours. In the drawings there obviously was an ideal. Although the ideals were gos and goddesses, which are mythological, the idea is still the same as today: There are some people who are above us all and who give a message of, "You will never look as perfect as me but I can laugh at you as you try." Even though there are many female celebraties and models today that are thought to be perfect, everyday women still don't always have the same rights as men. 400 and 500 years ago, women had to hire private art instructors in secret because if they were found they would be executed. Today there are not such extremes but women still don't have the power men do and are often looked down upon. I think it is interesting that people who did art outside of certain art academies were (severely) punished, in contrast to today, especially in places like Portland, where people are encouraged to make art as a way to express themselves.

I also think that people who did the nude drawings would have been much more successful if they had been allowed to draw women. With one look at the drawings with women in them I could tell none of the artists had never seen the body of a real women. Even Olympic women athletes have a different body shape, bone and muscle structure than men and the images of the buff, bulging women in many of the drawings. The drawings portrayed women as men with neat, long hair. If those artists would have had a chance to sketch real women, I think a whole new series of drawings, thoughts, and techniques would have appeared in artists' work.