The Original NSFW

A History of Male Nudity in Art

A new exhibition in Paris explores the role of the male nude in art over several hundred years—including the work of everyone from Jacques-Louis David to Kehinde Wiley. See the highlights.

Courtesy of MusÃÂ©e d'Orsay

By Sarah MorozSep 25, 2013

galleries/2013/09/25/masculin-masculin-at-the-mus-e-d-orsay-in-paris-photos/130924-male-nudity-tease_yjq1x2 — A new exhibition at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, Masculin/Masculin, explores the role of the male nude in art over several hundred years—including the work of everyone from Jacques-Louis David and Egon Schiele to Kehinde Wiley and Robert Mapplethorpe. See the highlights.

Courtesy of MusÃÂ©e d'Orsay

galleries/2013/09/25/masculin-masculin-at-the-mus-e-d-orsay-in-paris-photos/13-9-24-male-art-2_kbbbue — Jacques-Louis David, Study of a Man, 1778. © RMN-Grand Palais / Droits réservés
Thomas-Henry ÃÂ© RMN-Grand Palais / Droits rÃÂ©servÃÂ©s

galleries/2013/09/25/masculin-masculin-at-the-mus-e-d-orsay-in-paris-photos/13-9-24-male-art-12_k8gqrk — Sir Thomas Lawrence, Beelzebub and His Nemesis, around 1797. © RMN-Grand Palais (Musée du Louvre) / Jean-Gilles Berizzi

galleries/2013/09/25/masculin-masculin-at-the-mus-e-d-orsay-in-paris-photos/13-9-24-male-art-21_sfiyw6 — Hippolyte Flandrin, Young Male Seated Nude Beside the Sea, 1836. © Musée du Louvre, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Angèle Dequier
MusÃÂ©e du Louvre, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / AngÃÂ¨le Dequier

galleries/2013/09/25/masculin-masculin-at-the-mus-e-d-orsay-in-paris-photos/13-9-24-male-art-16_nxwuon — Gustave Moreau, Prometheus, 1868. © RMN-Grand Palais / René-Gabriel Ojéda
Paris, musÃÂ©e Gustave Moreau ÃÂ© RMN-Grand Palais / RenÃÂ©-Gabriel OjÃÂ©da

galleries/2013/09/25/masculin-masculin-at-the-mus-e-d-orsay-in-paris-photos/13-9-24-male-art-24_bx0svg — Frédéric Bazille, Fisherman With a Net, 1868. © Lylho / Leemage
Fondation Rau pour le Tiers-Monde ÃÂ© Lylho / Leemage

galleries/2013/09/25/masculin-masculin-at-the-mus-e-d-orsay-in-paris-photos/13-9-24-male-art-26_si7lfp — Camille Félix Bellanger, Abel, 1874–75. © Musée d'Orsay, dist. RMN / Patrice Schmidt
MusÃÂ©e d'Orsay, dist. RMN / Patrice Schmidt

galleries/2013/09/25/masculin-masculin-at-the-mus-e-d-orsay-in-paris-photos/13-9-24-male-art-30_ibxpiv — Jules Elie Delaunay, Ixion Thrown Into the Flames, 1876. © RMN-Grand Palais / Gérard Blot
musÃÂÃÂ©e des beaux-arts ÃÂÃÂ© RMN-Grand Palais / GÃÂÃÂ©rard Blot

galleries/2013/09/25/masculin-masculin-at-the-mus-e-d-orsay-in-paris-photos/13-9-24-male-art-17_lcsz44 — Eadweard Muybridge, Animal Locomotion, 1887. © Musée d'Orsay, dist. RMN / Alexis Brandt
musÃ©e d'Orsay distribution RMN/Alexis Brandt

galleries/2013/09/25/masculin-masculin-at-the-mus-e-d-orsay-in-paris-photos/13-9-24-male-art-3_lk7tkp — Emile-Edmond Peynot, The Belvédère Torso, 1881, marble. © Beaux-Arts de Paris, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / image Beaux-arts de Paris
Beaux-Arts ÃÂ© Beaux-Arts de Paris, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / image Beaux-arts de Paris

galleries/2013/09/25/masculin-masculin-at-the-mus-e-d-orsay-in-paris-photos/13-9-24-male-art-25_h3xayh — Paul Cézanne, Baigneurs, 1890. © RMN (Musée d'Orsay) / Hervé Lewandowski
RMN (MusÃ©e d'Orsay) / HervÃ© Lewandowski

galleries/2013/09/25/masculin-masculin-at-the-mus-e-d-orsay-in-paris-photos/13-9-24-male-art-23_xbixnd — Georges Minne, Agenouillé à la Fontaine, 1898 © RMN (Musée d'Orsay) / Adrien Didierjean
musÃÂ©e dÃ¢ÂÂOrsay ÃÂ© RMN (MusÃÂ©e d'Orsay) / Adrien Didierjean

galleries/2013/09/25/masculin-masculin-at-the-mus-e-d-orsay-in-paris-photos/13-9-24-male-art-29_nqbzxy — Egon Schiele, Self-Portrait, Kneeling, 1910. © Leopold Museum / Manfred Thumberger
Leopold Museum / Manfred Thumberger

galleries/2013/09/25/masculin-masculin-at-the-mus-e-d-orsay-in-paris-photos/13-9-24-male-art-22_twcazp — Wilhelm von Gloeden, Cain, Taormine, Sicile, 1911 © Westlicht, Musée de la Photographie, Vienna

Fondation Rau pour le Tiers-Monde ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ© Lylho / Leemage

galleries/2013/09/25/masculin-masculin-at-the-mus-e-d-orsay-in-paris-photos/13-9-24-male-art-7_j2zqrv — George Hoyningen-Huene, Horst P. Horst, Photographie, 1932. © Droits réservés
Hambourg, FC Gundlach ÃÂ© Droits rÃÂ©servÃÂ©s

galleries/2013/09/25/masculin-masculin-at-the-mus-e-d-orsay-in-paris-photos/13-9-24-male-art-41_st9udo — James Bidgood, Pink Narcissus, film de 1971. © James Bidgood

MusÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ©e d'Orsay, dist. RMN / Patrice Schmidt ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ© ADAGP, Paris 2013

galleries/2013/09/25/masculin-masculin-at-the-mus-e-d-orsay-in-paris-photos/13-9-24-male-art-32_bkq9kt — George Platt Lynes, Le Somnambule (The Sleepwalker), 1935. © Christoph Irrgang, Hamburg
Hambourg, Haus der Photographie, Sammlung F. C. Gundlach Â© Christoph Irrgang, Hamburg

galleries/2013/09/25/masculin-masculin-at-the-mus-e-d-orsay-in-paris-photos/13-9-24-male-art-37_ualyho — Paul Cadmus, Le Bain (The Bath), 1951. © Jon F. Anderson, Estate of Paul Cadmus / ADAGP, Paris 2013
Whitney Museum of American Art, NY Art ÃÂ© Jon F. Anderson, Estate of Paul Cadmus / ADAGP, Paris 2013

galleries/2013/09/25/masculin-masculin-at-the-mus-e-d-orsay-in-paris-photos/13-9-24-male-art-31_k5liro — Francis Bacon, Three Figures in a Room / (Trois personnages dans une pièce), 1964. © Centre Pompidou
Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Philippe Migeat ÃÂ© The Estate of Francis Bacon / All rights reserved / ADAGP, Paris 2013

galleries/2013/09/25/masculin-masculin-at-the-mus-e-d-orsay-in-paris-photos/13-9-24-male-art-10_z2o8yf — Pierre et Gilles, Mercury, 2001 (model: Enzo Junior). © Pierre et Gilles.
Collection particuliÃÂ¨re ÃÂ© Pierre et Gilles. Courtesy Galerie JÃÂ©rÃÂ´me de Noirmont, Paris.

galleries/2013/09/25/masculin-masculin-at-the-mus-e-d-orsay-in-paris-photos/13-9-24-male-art-14_u6k9wv — Pierre et Gilles, Vive la France, 2006 (models: Serge, Moussa, and Robert). © Pierre et Gilles
Pierre et Gilles

galleries/2013/09/25/masculin-masculin-at-the-mus-e-d-orsay-in-paris-photos/13-9-24-male-art-27_xfxg1h — David LaChapelle, Would-Be Martyr and 72 Virgins, 2008. © David LaChapelle
Daniel Templon Courtesy Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris. ÃÂ© David LaChapelle

galleries/2013/09/25/masculin-masculin-at-the-mus-e-d-orsay-in-paris-photos/13-9-24-male-art-28_gb1onh — Kehinde Wiley, Death of Abel Study, 2008. © Kehinde Wiley, Courtesy Roberts & Tilton, Culver City, CA & Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris.
Kehinde Wiley, Courtesy Roberts & Tilton, Culver City, CA & Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris.

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