When did NUDE art first appear in Russia? (PICS)

Russian art, unlike Western European art, was shaped under the influence of the Byzantine tradition. Its icon canons emphasized that the image should be intentionally incorporeal. Therefore, until the 18th century, depictions of nude people existed mainly in the form of frivolous pictures that made no claim to artistic value.

Then, in 1757, Russian painters began to study and adopt the European artistic system with the foundation of the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. The academy not only provided higher education in arts, but also regulated the artistic life of the entire country.

The study system followed the European model: students first drew from casts, then came écorché, i.e. sculptures showing detailed anatomical structure. And, finally, students were admitted to life drawing classes. The male life class was opened at the academy in 1760 on the initiative of sculptor Nicolas-François Gillet. The female life class appeared much later: it was first organized in 1893 by the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.

“Gradually, nude art evolved from study drawing into a separate theme, an embodiment of beauty,” says Evgenia Ilyukhina, Tretyakov Gallery’s department of 18th-early 20th century graphic art deputy head. 

“Every artist in every historical period had their own goals, their own narrative method and their own certain emphasis on the aesthetics of experience,” Ilyukhina adds.

The main artistic forms of the 18th century were paintings on historical, mythological and religious subjects. The painterly aesthetic assumed the idealization of the human form, harmonious bodies and beautiful proportions. Naturalism and realism in depicting the nude body were unacceptable, while allegorical representation was considered the only correct approach.

Among the first artists to paint a nude figure were Pyotr Sokolov, with his works ‘Daedalus Tying Wings to Icarus’ (1777) and ‘Venus and Adonis’ (1782); for the last, he received the title of academician. 

Another one was Ivan Akimov. A striking example from his work is ‘The Self-Immolation of Hercules on a Pyre in the Presence of His Friend Philoctetes’ (1782). 

The heroes of these paintings were depicted in idealized, mythological settings. Russian landscapes and interiors also appeared on canvases much later, in the 19th century.

Karl Bryullov and Alexander Ivanov made a breakthrough in the depiction of nude art, challenging the traditions of Classicism. Bryullov dared to add sensuality to the female models in his paintings, presenting them as more alive and “real”, as in ‘Italian Morning’ (1823) or ‘Bathsheba’ (1832).

While working on his monumental canvas ‘The Appearance of Christ Before the People’ (1837–1857), Alexander Ivanov rejected the conventional approach of idealizing the bodies of models in favor of realistic depiction.

“The body is a wondrous garment, a material, in the understanding of artists, woven by divine fingers, which no human cunning can imitate,” as sculptor Ivan Martos once wrote in his 1813 letter to Pyotr Chekalevsky, then Vice-President of the Academy of Arts.

This article was originally published (in Russian) on the Culture.ru website.