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A History of Male Nudity in Art

The Original NSFW

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.

Sarah Moroz
Sarah Moroz
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Courtesy of Musée d'Orsay
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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 Musée d'Orsay
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Jacques-Louis David, Study of a Man, 1778. © RMN-Grand Palais / Droits réservés

Thomas-Henry © RMN-Grand Palais / Droits réservés
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Sir Thomas Lawrence, Beelzebub and His Nemesis, around 1797. © RMN-Grand Palais (Musée du Louvre) / Jean-Gilles Berizzi

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Hippolyte Flandrin, Young Male Seated Nude Beside the Sea, 1836. © Musée du Louvre, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Angèle Dequier

Musée du Louvre, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Angèle Dequier
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Gustave Moreau, Prometheus, 1868. © RMN-Grand Palais / René-Gabriel Ojéda

Paris, musée Gustave Moreau © RMN-Grand Palais / René-Gabriel Ojéda
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Frédéric Bazille, Fisherman With a Net, 1868. © Lylho / Leemage

Fondation Rau pour le Tiers-Monde © Lylho / Leemage
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Camille Félix Bellanger, Abel, 1874–75. © Musée d'Orsay, dist. RMN / Patrice Schmidt

Musée d'Orsay, dist. RMN / Patrice Schmidt
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Jules Elie Delaunay, Ixion Thrown Into the Flames, 1876. © RMN-Grand Palais / Gérard Blot

musée des beaux-arts © RMN-Grand Palais / Gérard Blot
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Eadweard Muybridge, Animal Locomotion, 1887. © Musée d'Orsay, dist. RMN / Alexis Brandt

musée d'Orsay distribution RMN/Alexis Brandt
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Emile-Edmond Peynot, The Belvédère Torso, 1881, marble. © Beaux-Arts de Paris, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / image Beaux-arts de Paris

Beaux-Arts © Beaux-Arts de Paris, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / image Beaux-arts de Paris
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Paul Cézanne, Baigneurs, 1890. © RMN (Musée d'Orsay) / Hervé Lewandowski

RMN (Musée d'Orsay) / Hervé Lewandowski
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Georges Minne, Agenouillé à la Fontaine, 1898 © RMN (Musée d'Orsay) / Adrien Didierjean

musée d’Orsay © RMN (Musée d'Orsay) / Adrien Didierjean
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Egon Schiele, Self-Portrait, Kneeling, 1910. © Leopold Museum / Manfred Thumberger

Leopold Museum / Manfred Thumberger
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Wilhelm von Gloeden, Cain, Taormine, Sicile, 1911 © Westlicht, Musée de la Photographie, Vienna

Fondation Rau pour le Tiers-Monde © Lylho / Leemage
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George Hoyningen-Huene, Horst P. Horst, Photographie, 1932. © Droits réservés

Hambourg, FC Gundlach © Droits réservés
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James Bidgood, Pink Narcissus, film de 1971. © James Bidgood

Musée d'Orsay, dist. RMN / Patrice Schmidt © ADAGP, Paris 2013
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George Platt Lynes, Le Somnambule (The Sleepwalker), 1935. © Christoph Irrgang, Hamburg

Hambourg, Haus der Photographie, Sammlung F. C. Gundlach © Christoph Irrgang, Hamburg
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Paul Cadmus, Le Bain (The Bath), 1951. © Jon F. Anderson, Estate of Paul Cadmus / ADAGP, Paris 2013

Whitney Museum of American Art, NY Art © Jon F. Anderson, Estate of Paul Cadmus / ADAGP, Paris 2013
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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 © The Estate of Francis Bacon / All rights reserved / ADAGP, Paris 2013
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Pierre et Gilles, Mercury, 2001 (model: Enzo Junior). © Pierre et Gilles.

Collection particulière © Pierre et Gilles. Courtesy Galerie Jérôme de Noirmont, Paris.
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Pierre et Gilles, Vive la France, 2006 (models: Serge, Moussa, and Robert). © Pierre et Gilles

Pierre et Gilles
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David LaChapelle, Would-Be Martyr and 72 Virgins, 2008. © David LaChapelle

Daniel Templon Courtesy Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris. © David LaChapelle
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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.
Sarah Moroz

Sarah Moroz

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