Naaktstudies van man en vrouw 1787 - 1808

Jan Brandes made this drawing of nude studies in the late 18th or early 19th century. The image shows a standing man in profile against a grid of lines, presumably for the use of accurate measurement. Art academies were common throughout Europe at this time, and they were often government-funded. These institutions generally favoured a neoclassical style of art based on the art of antiquity. This drawing reflects that aesthetic. The grid could symbolize how academic teaching methods encourage artists to see the human body as a subject to be measured. It’s worth noting that this was also a time of colonial expansion and scientific exploration. Westerners often depicted non-Western people as specimens for analysis. One wonders, then, if this image reinforces those kinds of power dynamics. To learn more about the history of art academies, visit the library! Such institutions played a key role in shaping artistic norms.