The Nude

Death of Adonis (1767-70) by James Barry (1741-1806)

Death of Adonis (1767-70) by James Barry (1741-1806) Courtesy of the National Gallery of Ireland

Photo (c) National Gallery of Ireland

Death of Adonis (1767-70) by James Barry (1741-1806)
Photo (c) National Gallery of Ireland

Death of Adonis (1767-70) by James Barry (1741-1806)

Death of Adonis (1767-70) by James Barry (1741-1806) Courtesy of the National Gallery of Ireland

Photo (c) National Gallery of Ireland

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Long before the advent of the nude as a theme in ‘fine art’, abstracted carvings of naked female forms, known as ‘Sheela-na-gigs’ were placed adjacent to the doors of churches or in the walls of castles during the Middle Ages, probably in a superstitious belief that they would ward off evil.   While in the eighteenth century, the nude was commonly addressed in the guise of mythological or literary figures, over time, painted images of the nude were increasingly unusual.

 

The Geneva Window (1930) by Harry Clarke (1889–1931)

Stained glass window, for the International Labor Building, League of Nations, Geneva, commissioned 1926, completed 1930 (never installed) Designed by Harry Clarke (Irish, 1889–1931) Made by Clarke Studios, Dublin Stained glass, lead cames 71 1/2 x 40 inches (181.6 x 101.6 centimeters) The Geneva Window by Harry Clarke (1889-1931), was commissioned by the Free State government in 1926, as a gift to the International Labour Organisation in Geneva, but due to the prudish reaction, the artwork was never delivered.

The Wolfsonian–Florida International University (www.wolfsonian.org), Miami Beach, Florida

The Geneva Window (1930) by Harry Clarke (1889–1931)
The Wolfsonian–Florida International University (www.wolfsonian.org), Miami Beach, Florida

The Geneva Window (1930) by Harry Clarke (1889–1931)

Stained glass window, for the International Labor Building, League of Nations, Geneva, commissioned 1926, completed 1930 (never installed) Designed by Harry Clarke (Irish, 1889–1931) Made by Clarke Studios, Dublin Stained glass, lead cames 71 1/2 x 40 inches (181.6 x 101.6 centimeters) The Geneva Window by Harry Clarke (1889-1931), was commissioned by the Free State government in 1926, as a gift to the International Labour Organisation in Geneva, but due to the prudish reaction, the artwork was never delivered.

The Wolfsonian–Florida International University (www.wolfsonian.org), Miami Beach, Florida

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The Holy Well (1916) by William Orpen (1878-1931)

The Holy Well (1916) by William Orpen (1878-1931) includes classical nude figures, for allegorical purposes, perhaps to suggest the innocence before Adam and Eve’s fall from grace, rather than as a realistic, literal description of a pilgrimage to a holy well. Courtesy of the National Gallery of Ireland

Photo (c) National Gallery of Ireland

The Holy Well (1916) by William Orpen (1878-1931)
Photo (c) National Gallery of Ireland

The Holy Well (1916) by William Orpen (1878-1931)

The Holy Well (1916) by William Orpen (1878-1931) includes classical nude figures, for allegorical purposes, perhaps to suggest the innocence before Adam and Eve’s fall from grace, rather than as a realistic, literal description of a pilgrimage to a holy well. Courtesy of the National Gallery of Ireland

Photo (c) National Gallery of Ireland

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By the early part of the twentieth century social and religious attitudes, and the introduction of censorship laws led to notoriety for that those Irish artists who included nude figures in their art. Artists such as Roderic O’Conor, William Orpen, Mainie Jellett, Patrick Collins, and others, were generally working outside of Ireland when they included nude figures in their work.

A Family (1951) by Louis le Brocquy (b.1916)

Louis le Brocquy (b.1916), A Family (1951) was described, in a letter to the Irish Times, as ‘an unwholsesome and satanic distortion of natural beauty’. Courtesy of the National Gallery of Ireland

Photo (c) National Gallery of Ireland (c) The Artist

A Family (1951) by Louis le Brocquy (b.1916)
Photo (c) National Gallery of Ireland (c) The Artist

A Family (1951) by Louis le Brocquy (b.1916)

Louis le Brocquy (b.1916), A Family (1951) was described, in a letter to the Irish Times, as ‘an unwholsesome and satanic distortion of natural beauty’. Courtesy of the National Gallery of Ireland

Photo (c) National Gallery of Ireland (c) The Artist

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This attitude prevailed until after the middle of the twentieth century.   Louis le Brocquy’s A Family (1951), was criticised in Ireland for the treatment of the nude figure, and in the suggestion of family disharmony, but was acclaimed internationally.

Madonna Irlanda (1977) by Micheal Farrell (1940-2000)

Oil on canvas 36" x 64.5" Private Collection Madonna Irlanda or The Very First Real Irish Political Picture (1977) by Micheal Farrell (1940-2000) is based on a famous painting by François Boucher (1703-1770) of a courtesan, Marie-Louise O’Murphy (1737-1818), who was favoured by King Louis XV of France. Farrell’s image was controversial for personifying Ireland in such a way, rather than the traditional Madonna-like, pure and maternal persona.

Madonna Irlanda (1977) by Micheal Farrell (1940-2000)

Madonna Irlanda (1977) by Micheal Farrell (1940-2000)

Oil on canvas 36" x 64.5" Private Collection Madonna Irlanda or The Very First Real Irish Political Picture (1977) by Micheal Farrell (1940-2000) is based on a famous painting by François Boucher (1703-1770) of a courtesan, Marie-Louise O’Murphy (1737-1818), who was favoured by King Louis XV of France. Farrell’s image was controversial for personifying Ireland in such a way, rather than the traditional Madonna-like, pure and maternal persona.

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From the 1970s, the nude appears in Irish art in various roles, such as the association with nature and the land or in the form of a socio-political critique, as in Micheal Farrell’s celebrated Madonna Irlanda (1977).