I consider figure painting as being the most challenging genre in art. All the powers of observation, attention to anatomy, composition, meaning and technique come together to require the absolute maximum effort from the artist. In a historical vein, the great masters of the past Velasquez, Rubens, Rembrandt, Titian, Raphael, Leonardo were all challenged and passionate about painting the figure. The pseudo-moralistic tone of our society has affected the way in which nude figure painting is exhibited and used. Many exhibitions will not include nude paintings or will attempt to place them in low traffic areas, we teach our children that such paintings are somehow wrong or inappropriate, corporations and businesses exclude their use. For a society, that uses 40% of broad band width dedicated to pornography, and has every form of sexual act on cable channels and lately network tv, I think that our moralistically confused attitude toward nude figure painting is ridiculous and infantile. Pursuing this attitude may eventually lead to censoring our museum heritage of nude figure painting of our most revered masters.
