Event Item: 00125

Art of the Nude - Artists explore the human form

Exhibition: 19th Jul 2008 to 20th Sep 2008

Source: http://www.newport.gov.uk

Art of the Nude frames the artistic genre of the nude and provides a fascinating thread through the history of art - airing rarely seen works belonging to the permanent collections of the Newport Museum and Art Gallery.

The study of the nude formed the basis of the post-Renaissance academic tradition of "Western Art", whilst the departures of modernism and the avant garde likewise saw a persistence of the nude as a vital genre for the artist's exploration. Whither the nude in today's world of CGI and the Internet? John Wilson and Roger Cucksey are guest curators of this exhibition.

One of the featured works is D.D. V (a) (Nude Study) (1924) - painted by a leading Society portraitist and later President of the Royal Academy, Sir Gerald Festus Kelly, this bold representation of the female nude became a cause celebre when it was purchased from the Royal Academy Summer Show and displayed at the Newport Museum and Art Gallery in 1947.

Newport Museum and Art Gallery, John Frost Square, Newport, NP20 1PA, Wales