Nude art has been represented in paintings and statues since prehistory. From a liberal view in the Classical period to a conservative outlook in the Middle Ages, as well as more ups and downs in the Renaissance and Victorian eras. We now exist in an age in which body related tabus seem to be less of an issue to a Western audience, as the media is saturated with sexual and beautified imagery. Saville is a modern British painter, known for her large-scale nude works which are merciless in their brutal depictions of the human form. Her nude paintings are raw affairs with bleached out colours and thick brushstrokes. It is a beautifully composed painting: soft and hard at the same time, full of contradictions.

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Goya's Nude Maja, confident in her nakedness as she unashamedly gazes out at the viewer, is infamous for her direct confrontation. Rumored to be a portrait of Goya's own mistress, this painting was commissioned for the private boudoir of a wealthy patron, hidden from the public eye. But when discovered, this erotically-charged masterpiece shocked audiences at the time and paved the way for the transgressive, boundary-pushing ethos of Modern Art.