An ALLUSION to the "La Maja Desnuda": AN ART RESPONSE
La Maja Desnuda is an oils on canvas painting by the Spanish painter, Francisco Goya. It is quite large, measuring 38 by 75 inches. The painting was acquired by the Museo del Prado in Madrid in 1910, and remains there to this day. It is not known when exactly Goya did the painting, but most estimates date it between 1797 and 1800, although some date it as early as 1792. La Maja Desnuda translates into English as “the naked mistress” or “the nude mistress.” As the name suggests, the subject of the painting is a naked female. She is depicted lying seductively on a couch. Her two arms are raised, with her hands behind her head, she has a slight smile, and her two cheeks are noticeably rosy. Her body is tilted towards the viewer. The painting is somewhat unusual in that her pubic hair is depicted. In most western classical paintings up to that time, pubic hair was not to be shown.
All the lighting focus of the painting is on
the nude herself and the surface of the couch. The background to the painting
is mainly dark and shows no other objects other than a plain wall. Nude
paintings should be more recognized and normalized, and shall not be
discriminated. Society now a days just don't appreciate the beauty of nudity,
they rather understand it in a foul way.
Looking at this work of art, I see nothing but a God
made masterpiece. Every time I see nude art posted online being understood in a
different way, it terribly saddened me, seeing harsh comments and the way they
edit it and turn it into a meme (A
meme is an idea, behavior, or style that becomes a fad and spreads by means of
imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic
meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme.)is just very
disrespectful to the artist. I mean Imagine working on a piece of art for hours
and others just take it as a joke is just so sad.
La Maja Desnuda and La Maja Vestida,
both are beautiful artworks, lets start with that. Comparing it to our world
right now, La Maja represents the past while La Maja Vestida represents the
present. Although some may not be fond of it, they both greatly showcase
on how our world evolved, from being expressive to being afraid of the
society's judgement .Not trying to force the people to be comfortable with nude
art, let us first be understanding and respect with eachothers feelings.
An artist like Francisco Goya
should be an inspiration to other aspiring artist to be, They should never be
afraid to take risks and express themselves. La Maja Vestida was like
approximately made to satisfy the society or some of the people now a days,
making the beautiful woman dressed in cloth. Just by looking at both art works
I sense that there is a hidden lesson to this, and that is to be confident and
embrace our uniqueness. Lets be ourselves and not let the society decide for
us. Nude art should be cherished, valued, and acknowledged as much as it was
before.
“Trusting your individual uniqueness challenges you to lay yourself open”.
James Broughton
References:
-Image:
https://www.reddit.com/r/museum/comments/16nhft/francisco_goya_la_maja_vestida_and_la_maja/
-2012. Totally History. Retrieved
from:
-La Maja Desnuda :http://totallyhistory.com/la-maja-desnuda/
-La Maja Vestida :http://totallyhistory.com/la-maja-vestida/
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