Francis Bacon's above 'Three Figures in a Room' (1964) will feature in an upcoming Musée d'Orsay exhibition entitled: 'Masculine / Masculine. The Nude Man in Art from 1800 to the Present Day.' In stark comparison to the regular exhibition of the female nude, until the show at the Leopold Museum in Vienna in the autumn of 2012 no exhibition had taken a 'fresh approach' over a long historical perspective, to the representation of the male nude. Interesting considering the male nude's long term role from the 17th to 19th centuries as the basis of Academic art training and a key element in Western creative art. In collaboration with the Leopold Museum the Musée d'Orsay is organising an exhibition that draws on the wealth of its own collection and public French collections aiming to take an interpretive, playful, sociological and philosophical approach exploring all aspects and meanings of the male nude in art. A range of techniques including painting, sculpture, graphic arts and photography will be showcased thematically rather than chronologically, aiming to highlight dialogue between eras, revealing how certain artists have been prompted to reinterpret earlier works. 'Masculine / Masculine. The Nude Man in Art from 1800 to the Present Day.' will reveal visual and intellectual relationships through the works of artists as renowned as Georges de La Tour, Pierre Puget, Abilgaard, Paul Flandrin, Bouguereau, Hodler, Schiele, Munch, Picasso, Bacon, Mapplethorpe, Freud and Mueck. Francis Bacon's inclusion in this exhibition is understandable on numerous levels. From his artistic origins coming from 1920's France and the works of Picasso, to Bacon's technique of working from nude or semi-nude photography, and especially his use of male lovers as intimate painting subjects - unravelling their physicality and personality with and unique brush strokes creating contorting yet recognisable male flesh. For more information on the exhibition, including opening hours and ticket prices, please visit the exhibition website. Curators: Guy Cogeval, director of the Musée d’Orsay and Musée de l’Orangerie Ophélie Ferlier, sculpture curator, Musée d’Orsay Xavier Rey, curator of painting, Musée d’Orsay Ulrich Pohlmann, director of the photography collection, Stadtmuseum, Munich Tobias G. Natter, director of the Leopold Museum in Vienna Masculine / Masculine. The Nude Man in Art from 1800 to the Present Day 24th September 2013 - 2nd January 2014 Musée d'Orsay 62, rue de Lille 75343 Paris Cedex 07 Word ref: Musée d'Orsay press release, special thanks to Coralie David and Eric Jouvenaux.
