Deux hommes nus 1867 - 1869

Pierre Puvis de Chavannes made this drawing, Deux hommes nus, using graphite. What are we to make of these two nude men? Well, one way of thinking about it is to focus on the French Academy, an institution that shaped so much art during the 1800s. The Academy promoted a hierarchy of genres that placed history painting at the top and still life at the bottom. The classical male nude was seen as central to elevating painting to the level of high art. This drawing by Puvis looks back to the art of ancient Greece and Rome to ennoble the male body. But what is its purpose? Is it meant to ennoble the figures or is it simply a study? The social conditions that shape art mean that we always have to consider the institutional forces at play. Art history relies on an understanding of such institutions, which can be explored further through archival research and careful formal analysis.