Retro Rule Five: Paul Sieffert, Giacomo Grosso & Luis Ricardo Falero, and the Art of the Reclining Nude

The Nineteenth Century delighted in figurative painting and illustrated the female nude in a bewildering array of styles and moods. Generally speaking, most French and British painters took an ‘heroic’ or academic approach. Paul Sieffert’s nudes reflect this style.

Italian and the Spanish painters – as exemplified here by Giacomo Grosso and Luis Ricardo Falero – tended to adopted a more emotionally charged view.  Where, say, Bouguereau or Godward would appeal to classical mythology in their fantastical images, we can see from Falero’s Reclining Nude his appeal to erotic fantasy and his sheer delight for the female curve.

Giacomo Grosso was especially ahead of his time;  not only did he anticipate the eroticism of Frank Frazetta, he laughed at the drowned polar bear hysterics of the “global warming” crowd.  (How ever did he know?)

. . .

Paul Sieffert: Grand Nu, ca 1900

. . .

. . .

Giacomo Grosso: Nuda, 1896

. . .

Luis Ricardo Falero: Reclining Nude, 1879

. . .

Smitty has more Rule 5 delights on tap.

Bob Belveder serves up Heidi Becker.