What were the issues behind the nude of 19th century art?

Question

I can't seem to find any books or good references on the subject... any recommendations or useful information would be great!

Answer 1

 

There is a great book, The Judgment of Paris: The Revolutionary Decade That Gave the World Impressionism by Ross King that compares Édouard Manet's Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe caused an uproar at the Salon des Refusés and another painting from the same year.

 

Manet's Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe and his Olympia are two nudes that caused major criticism in the 19th century. Here are links to articles about the two Manet paintings. They were both done after very famous nudes of the renaissance but the nude woman (same model in both cases) was brazenly staring out of the canvas at the viewer.

 

Grande Odalisque by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres cause quite a stir earlier in the 19th century.

Answer 2

Well this kind of art as we call 'Porn', was an everyday open art form back in the days of the Roman Empire, it was displayed all over Rome.

But when it crept into Britain it was only for the nobility, and not for the unwashed who had been made very religious and had high morels so they could be more easily controlled.

So this is why it's still hard to find the bulk of it, as it's still in private libraries, etc.