Model (art)  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

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Art modeling involves the posing of a model, an often paid, sometimes even professional, human subject, as an aid in creating a portrait or other work of art including such figure wholly or partially.

Models are frequently used for training art students, but are also employed by accomplished artists. The most common types of art created using models are figure drawing, figure painting, sculpture and photography. Although commercial motives dominate over the esthetics in advertising, its 'artwork' commonly employs models.

Throughout the history of Western Art, drawing the human figure from living models was considered the most useful tool in developing the skill of draftsmanship. In the art school classroom setting, the purpose is to learn how to draw humans of all different shapes, ages and ethnicities, so there are no real limitations on who the model can be. In some cases, the model may pose with various props, (an)other model(s), animal(s) etc., against real or artificial background, in natural or artificial light and so on.

History

The Greeks, who had the naked body constantly before them in the exercises of the gymnasium, had far less need of professional models than the moderns; but it is scarcely likely that they could have attained the high level reached by their works without constant study from nature. It was probably in Ancient Greece that models were first used. The story told of The Five Maidens of Croton of Zeuxis told by various authors such as Pliny, Valerius Maximus and Cicero, who had five of the most beautiful virgins of the city of Crotone offered him as models for his picture of Helen, proves their occasional use.

During the Renaissance, painters generally made use of their relations and friends as models, of which many examples might be quoted from Venice, Florence, Rome and other places, and the stories of Titian and the duchess of Ferrara and of Botticelli and Simonetta Vespucci, go to show that ladies of exalted rank were sometimes not averse to having their charms immortalized by the painter's brush. Paid models were not unknown, as the story of the unfortunate contadino used by Jacopo Sansovino as model for his statue of the Bacchus will show.

Artists' models as a special class appeared when the establishment of schools for the study of the human figure created a regular demand, and since that time the remuneration offered has ensured a continual supply. In the media era, modeling is also coveted as a way to achieve notoriety or even celebrity status opening the way to other careers, such as acting.

Nude models

Depictions of nudity, art nude

Models for life drawing classes are often entirely nude, apart from visually non-obstructive personal items such as small jewelry and sometimes eyeglasses. In a job advertisement seeking nude models, this may be referred to as being "undraped" or "disrobed". (Alternatively, a cache-sexe may be worn. Eadward Muybridge's historic scientific studies of the male and female form in motion, for example, has examples of both usages.)

In Western countries, there is generally no objection to either sex posing nude for or drawing members of the opposite sex. However, this was not always so in the past, particularly prior to the 20th century. In 1886, Thomas Eakins was famously dismissed from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art for removing the loincloth from a male model in a mixed classroom. Similarly, Victorian modesty required the female model to pose nude with her face draped (illustration). European arts academies did not allow women to study the nude at all until the end of the nineteenth century. According to RAM guidelines in the U.K., art instructors and institutions consider the incident of a male model gaining an erection while posing cause for termination of the model's contract, or at any rate, grounds for not hiring him again. Policies may vary in other parts of the world, particularly for younger or inexperienced models.

During art school classes or an academic setting, it is commonly prohibited for anyone (including the instructor) to touch the model. Very close examination or requests for adjustment are typical—with the permission of the model. A few institutions allow only the instructor to speak directly with the model.

Additionally, nude models are sometimes paid to model as part of a performance or work of art; a fine example is the work of Vanessa Beecroft. Nude modeling can also occur in a private setting as demonstrated in the films As Good as It Gets and Maze. Finally, a person can be their own model, while solo, with or without mirrors.

On modesty and nude modeling

L’anecdote suivante, permettra de préciser la distinction que nous avons faite entre le sentiment artistique et le sentiment sexuel. Un élève d’Ingres, M. Amaury Duval, raconte, dans un livre écrit sur l’atelier de son maître, qu’un jour, à l’école des Beaux-Arts, une femme posait toute nue devant plusieurs élèves ; elle n’était nullement gênée par tous les regards dirigés sur sa chair. Tout à coup, au milieu de la séance, elle quitte la pose en poussant un cri et court à ses vêtements pour couvrir sa nudité ; elle venait d’apercevoir à travers une lucarne la tête d’un ouvrier couvreur qui se penchait curieusement pour la regarder.--Du Fétichisme dans l'amour

See also

• Artist and Model in the Studio by Albrecht Dürer
• Study of a Seated Nude Woman Wearing Mask (c. 1865-66) by Thomas Eakins
• An Artist's Model[1]