Apgar 1 Kaitlyn Apgar Kelly Grandjean ARTS 1301.001 January 28, 2020 Study for the Great American Nude Art Critique The portrait by Tom Wesselman shows a subject matter of a nude woman and various objects including roses, a telephone, pillows, perfume, and a photo. The roses act as a bridge connecting the nude woman to a photo only containing the girl. The roses connecting the two would suggest that the woman is a narcissist in love with herself due to the roses’ association with love and affection. The position of the woman’s arm and the lines of her body act as a leading line guiding the viewers eyes along her upper body and across the photo to the telephone and perfume. The perfume could suggest sin, serving as a way to cover up the sins of humanity (Symbols from Perfume), in the case of the artwork the sin could be either narcissism or lust. The nude is part of a 100 piece collection all titled under the name “The Study of the Great American Nude” from here the paintings are numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, ect. The series lasted from the 1960’s and into the 1970’s; coincidentally a large movement was also happening at this time. Starting from the 1960’s and into the 1980’s the Sexual Revolution broke out and spread across the western countries. This movement challenged traditional behaviors and also relationships, with this knowledge of the painting series the portrait just seems as an item of shock value, something to stand by the movement and cause more traditionalists to react in a negative manor. Due to the numerous nudes and the purpose seemingly to be mostly focused around shock value, it’s hard for me to view very the piece in an esteemed manor, as it seems as though the artist was painting nudes to simply paint nudes. Apgar 2 Works Cited IB World. “Symbols from Perfume.” IB World Literature, Falcon Hive, 20 May 2009, ibworldlit.blogspot.com/2009/05/symbols-from-perfume.html.
