An Informal History of the Male Nude (Complete)

By: Sarah Kent, Edith Hall, Partha Mitter, Gabriel Gbadamosi, Matthew Sweet

Narrated by: Sarah Kent, Edith Hall, Partha Mitter, Gabriel Gbadamosi, Matthew Sweet

The BBC Radio 3 series exploring the meaning of the male nude in the visual arts.

When we think of the nude we usually think of the female nude, and in Western art in particular, we're often contemplating an image where the artist is primarily concerned with sensuality and desire. If we spare a thought for the male nude at all, he tends to appear as a figure symbolising courage and endurance. Both perspectives are, of course, a simplification or distortion.

An Informal History of the Male Nude is a kind of corrective to that astigmatism. In these five programmes, Edith Hall, Partha Mitter, Gabriel Gbadamosi, Matthew Sweet, and Sarah Kent consider the male nude in the art of the ancient world, Indian art, African art, Renaissance and Victorian art, and contemporary art.

Producer: Zahid Warley.

©2012 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2012 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Meh. Not worth it

Mostly boring like a background humdrum radio broadcast that no one is really listening. However, a couple of the unidentified presenters provided witty insight in their 10 minute segments but most others didn’t grab my interest especially the discussions of Indian & African nude history through the lens of family. I was hoping for more than the small discussion proffered of why classical Greco-Roman & Renaissance sculptors created their art, how they did it, & what impact it has had on people through time.