Nudo Sdraiato

Oil on canvas 60w X48 h

The words reclining nude conjure up a vision of voluptuous femininity, a bed with crumpled sheets, and a painter, mind focused, brush alert, making his mark on the canvas. All very sexual, really. Which has always been the problem.

Fine art, as we know, is respectable. Sex is not. The reclining nude is where they meet. One of the most fascinating of fine art's spectator sports is watching the rude removed from the nude.

A mark of the educated art lover is the ability to assess a reclining nude in artistic terms alone. From this perspective, the nude is solely a matter of subtle flesh tones, sophisticated composition, learned references to other reclining nudes, a flurry of knowing points about the goddess she is meant to represent.