50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Categories: Culture | Positive | World

It turns out that in Western art, body positivity is a very popular idea! And it doesn't just come down to "Rubens beauties." We present fifty examples of body positivity from the past. Replace the magazine posters on your walls with these pictures. These women have no idea about counting calories – and they're still timeless goddesses. Learn.

Beware, there are images of naked women!

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Gustave Courbet, "The Hammock", 1844

This week, an essay by a girl named Maddie Howard was published on the xoJane platform; in it, Maddie tells how her ex-boyfriend laughed at her figure, using associations from art history. In particular, the words that she heard from him first of all on the first date:

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Gustave Courbet, "The Naked Lady with the Dog", 1868

Howard's date, as if it came out of a nightmare, awakened a lot of emotions in women around the world. But, in addition, it once again drew our attention to the body-positive view of art on the female body.

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Gustave Courbet, "The Girl in White Stockings", 1861

From Rubens to Courbet, from Matisse to Klimt-in the archives of great artists, we discover a huge variety of types of women. Curvy, shameless nudity, body hair… In short, we would hardly say that art, starting from the 17th century – from the Baroque period, promoted a healthy lifestyle.

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, "The Turkish Bath", 1862

Yes, most of the paintings are portraits of naked white women, painted by long-dead white men. And yet the standards of beauty that art offers are closer to life than modern fashion, because they recognize that women can exist in all their diversity.

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, "Odalisque with a Slave", 1842

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Peter Paul Rubens, Adam and Eve, 1628-29

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Peter Paul Rubens, "Venus at the Mirror", 1613-14

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Peter Paul Rubens, "Venus and Adonis", the first half of the 17th century

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Peter Paul Rubens, Venus, Mars, and Cupid, early 1630s.

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Peter Paul Rubens, The Court of Paris, 1606

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Raphael, sketch for The Three Graces, 1518

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Raphael, "Fornarina", 1518

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Titian, "Venus with the organist and Cupid", 1550

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Titian, "Danae", 1545-46

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Titian, Diana and Actaeon, 1556-59

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Titian, "Violante", 1515

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Gustave Courbet, "The Origin of the World", 1866

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Paul Gauguin, The Sewing Woman, 1880

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Edouard Manet, "Breakfast on the grass", 1863

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Edgar Degas, "The Woman who Combs her Hair", 1885

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Edgar Degas, The Kneeling Woman, 1884

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Edgar Degas, After the Bath, 1884-86

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Lucien Freud, "Standing against the Rags", 1988-9

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Egon Schiele, "The Sitting Woman", 1917

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Adolphe William Bouguereau, "The Wave", 1896

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Adolphe William Bouguereau, The Birth of Venus, 1879

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Adolphe William Bouguereau, "The Bather", 1864

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Gustave Courbet, "Lying Naked", 1862

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Gustave Courbet, "The Young Bather", 1866

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Adolphe William Bouguereau, The Two Bathers, 1884

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus, 1483-1485

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Frederick Leighton, The Fisherman and the Siren, 1856-1858

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Frederick Leighton, In the Garden of the Hesperides, 1892

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Frederick Leighton, The Burning June, 1895

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Frederick Leighton, "Cimon and Iphigenia", 1884

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Evelyn de Morgan, Ariadne on Naxos, 1877

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

John Everett Millet, The Knight Errant, 1870

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Artemisia Gentileschi, The Sleeping Venus, 1625-30

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Artemisia Gentileschi, "Lucrezia", 1620

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Artemisia Gentileschi, "Susanna and the Elders", 1610

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Francois Boucher, "The Lying Girl", 1751

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Francois Boucher, The Bathing of Diana, 1742

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Francois Boucher, "Venus consoling Cupid", 1751

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Francois Boucher, "The Toilet of Venus", 1751

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Madame Moitessier, 1856

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Paul Cezanne, "The Bathers", 1898-1905

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Gustav Klimt, "Beethoven Frieze", 1902

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Henri Matisse, The Blue Nude, 1907

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Henri Matisse, "The Dance", 1909

50 works of art that support the ideology of body positivity

Gustav Klimt, "Masturbation", 1916

Keywords: Culture | World | Pictures | Positive | Art | Sex | Artists | Body positive | Ideology

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