… Or Should That Be ‘Der Nackte’?
Painted in acrylics on 100 x 75 cm stretched canvas. This new painting was completed just in time to be submitted to the fantastic Walsall Society of Artists’ Summer Show exhibition at The Rose Paterson Gallery (formerly The Granary Gallery) at Weston Park – but little did I realise, that there would be so much discussion about the title of the painting.
I was approached by an art lover, whilst at the exhibitions Private Viewing, who asked why I had called the artwork ‘Der Akt’ and not ‘Der Nackte’, which is the true translation of ‘The Nude’ into German. Which is a really great question and one that has been asked of WAY more clever art historians, than I.
‘Der Nackte’ IS indeed the correct translation for ‘The Nude’ – However, at some point, most likely, at the beginning of the 19th Century, an art academic coined the phrase ‘Der Akt’ to mean ‘The Nude’ when referring to the artistic representation of the naked body, and it was then adopted by the wider academic and artistic world.
However, the exact whereabouts of the origin is unknown, and countless professors and art historians are non-the-wiser than I, and it remains a largely unanswered question.
There was no model or muse in mind when I painted this piece, and it was very much an organic experience, that came from my imagination. Although I had a bit of an idea of what I wanted to create, the only element that I was certain would be included, was the more horizontal of the two main lines that ends in a sharp point on the left-hand side. That was an image that I had in mind… everything else ‘just happened’.
I would like to thank Louise from High Wycombe for initially advising me of the use of the term ‘Der Akt’.