THE ART OF THE NUDE | Video clip of the exhibition opening

THE ART OF THE NUDE: ARTISTS EXPLORE THE HUMAN FORM | John Wilson & Roger Cucksey, Guest Curators | Newport Museum and Art Gallery, 18 July - 20 Sept 2008

> View | video clip to record the exhibition opening by painter Harry Holland on 18 July



> Listen

Harry Holland | "It's a great pleasure for me to open the exhibition THE ART OF THE NUDE.

"Football fields of flesh have been painted of the nude.

I could speak about the theme of the nude in relation to the beauty of the human form.

I could speak of the nude and the erotic. The nude and the divine.

What I would say is that the practical aspect of painting the nude is a real challenge - dealing with the model is a real challenge. For the model is always complaining - it's either too cold in the studio, or it's too hot; the model is either upset about a boyfriend, or else on a high". [Paraphrase from memory. JW]

* "Art can never exist without naked beauty displayed" - William Blake

* "The body always expresses the spirit whose envelope it is. And for him who can see, the nude offers the richest meaning" - Auguste Rodin

* "I was trained as a painter. I'm very familiar with the nude body, masculine and feminine. I do, I suppose have a soapbox position, and I want to be certain that the human body is in the center of the frame." - Peter Greenaway, Film- maker

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