Uncovered Bodies
Picasso Blue Nude 1902

Description: 

Display Explanation: The display for these images will be an indoor museum with smooth pearl white walls and the floors in the museum will be white but with blue and light blue accents as you lead up to my first image I chose then as you starting walking to my second image the light blue accent will remain but the other blue will change to light purple. Which will lead to my second image with light blue and purple accents. Then as you finally walk to my last image the colors will change to subtle red roses instead of accents to connect with my last image. The celings will be at least 20 feet tall. The lighting for the images will be white steel rods hanging from the celings directly over the specific image. The images themselves will be on different sized stools to emphasize the difference in how much women bodies were accepted in that time period. The first image will be on the smallest stool to show that women bodies were not accepted at that time. While my second image will be on the medium stool to show the growth it had from before but not as much growth as it will have in the future. The final image is on the tallest stool to emphasize that women bodies were finally becoming accepted in society and not seen as an object. The images will be highlight from the amount of light they are getting from the light bulbs dangling from the celings. The lighting on the images as well will be matched with the size of the stool. For example the smallest stool will have the smallest amount of lighting over it. The images will also be turned in a certain direction. The first image will be turned away from the viewers which symbolizes how we can assume the women feels in the photo. Whereas in my second image the image will be turned slightly towards and away from the viewer to give the sense that they are starting to open up more and my final image will be turned completely toward the viewer. These specific details will help draw more ideas from the images I have chosen. 

 

 

Installation Note: Hello! Welcome to the Uncovered Bodies. This installation was created to show viewers how the view on womens bodies changed in the 19th century. As many of us know womens bodies were seen as objects. My installation shows how women achieved to break away from the norms society had arranged. In my first painting there is a nude female who has her back towards the viewers and the painting  is colored in different shades of blue. Many know that blue represent the emotion sadness. I chose this image because it shows perfectly how women felt about their bodies and how they felt society viewed their bodies. Which brings me to my second image of the nude female laying down in a sceneless background facing towards the viewers but still covering her breast and crossing her legs giving the viewers a sense of closed offness. I chose this image because not only does it still give the sense that the woman is closed off but she is also showing more of herself than before which the viewers can decide that in this time period womens bodies were becoming more accepted than before. While also having some of the blue from the last painting in this painting also ties the two images together but in my second image only a portion of her leg is blue instead of the entire image. My final image represent a nude woman standing in a field of flowers only covering her face. This image represents a woman who is not ashamed of her natural body but instead embraces it. This image connects with my other 2 images because it shows the woman finally break free from society norms and show her body instead of covering or hiding it. Another detail that ties these images along are the color of the flowers. There are blue flowers which was the main color theme for this installation. Futhering on the flowers, they symbolize a sense of rebirth showing that the woman is reclaiming her identity and body from societies grasp. 

 

 

Citations: 

Matisse, Henri. Seated Nude. Barnes Foundation, 2023, Room 10, West Wall, https://collection.barnesfoundation.org/objects/5102/Seated-Nude/. Accessed 2024. 

Picasso, Pablo. Blue Nude.  Pablo Picasso Painting, Quotes & Biography, 1902, https://www.pablopicasso.org/blue-nude.jsp#prettyPhoto. Accessed 2024.

Slugocki, Marian. Awakening, Spring. Wikimedia Commons, 1908, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marian_Sługocki_-_Przebudzenie._Wiosna_1908.jpg. Accessed 23 January 2023. 

Associated Place(s)

Artist: 

  • Multiple Artists

Image Date: 

Early 19th century