The Nude

First published in 1956, this art-historical study distinguishes the nude as an ideal form from the merely naked body. Clark follows the Greek athletic figure, the Venus type, energy, pathos, and later Christian and modern conventions through sculpture and painting from antiquity to the nineteenth century, with examples from Phidias, Praxiteles, Michelangelo, Rubens, Ingres, and others. He argues that certain poses and proportions carry meaning across periods. The book is a critical history of an artistic subject, not a picture album without argument and not a manual of life drawing.

Bound in quarter cloth with photo printed paper sides. Dark green slipcase. Presentation volume for 2010.