Classic Beauty:
Photographs of Female Nudes

Throckmorton Fine Art in New York City presents Classic Beauty: Photographs of Female Nudes on display until September 2nd, 2006.

At a time when the media and the internet has successfully diminished nude photography to pornography or cliché, Throckmorton Fine Art concentrates on nudes that have been integrated into the public psyche as iconic imagery rather then material for titillation. Classic Beauty, Photographs of Female Nudes, opens Thursday, June 22, 2006 featuring the work of Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Lucien Clergue, Valdir Cruz, Fritz Henle, Flor Garduño, and Edward Weston.

History shows that photographs of the female nude have rarely been instantly socially acceptable. Western audiences traditionally are not accustomed to viewing the body in its natural form, no matter how innocent the appearance may be. Today, taboos aside and with an attitude that anything goes, the nude has benefited most by Modernist influence and photographers approaching the female form from surreal and individual perspectives. The photographs in this exhibition combine vintage and contemporary works outlining the effectiveness of fine art nudes produced by different generations. From Manuel Alvarez Bravo’s once censored and controversial La Buena Fama (1938) depicting a bandaged woman lying down with “abrojos” and her pubic hair revealed to Flor Gardño’s powerful use of the female as poetic metaphor, nude photography continues to challenge time and demand its classicism.

Other highlighted works in the exhibition are Edward Weston’s nudes taken in the 1920s, Fritz Henle’s photos of the model Nieves from 1943, Valdir Cruz’s modern prints of subjects in Brasil and New York, and Lucien Clergue’s Mediterranean nudes from the 50s and 70s.

More information about Throckmorton Fine Art can be found at http://www.throckmorton-nyc.com