Anatomical Drawing 6: 'Skin and Bones'

This piece is the sixth installment in my set of anatomical drawings for my independent study project 'Art Embodied.' The work is based off of my past two weeks of study focused on Post-Impressionism and Fauvism.

During my studies I have discerned a change in artistic focus that took place around the turn of the 20th century. Emphasis on representation of reality decreased, while interest in the artist's personal interpretation of a scene spiked . Impressionist works launched the art world in this direction at the end of the 19th century, placing new value on the artist's individual 'impression' and rendering of a scene. Post-impressionists deepened this trend, further emphasizing artistic symbolism and individual style. In the early 1900s the Fauvists then ran with this trend, cuttin ties with the realist illusion and opting instead for a vibrant pictoral plane in which human figures were simplified to a series of two-dimensional colored planes.

The human body's surface and gestural potential were the focus of these artistic movments in regards to the human form. The Impressionists were fascinated with the dance of light on their subject's back, while the Fauvists reveled in the challenge of  reducing the human form to a few brushstrokes. The human form's interior anatomy became less important to many of these turn-of-the-century artists.

To communicate this concept visually, I created this piece, featuring six female figures in an abstracted space. The figures themselves are rendered in the Fauvist style — vibrantly colored, simplified, and gestural. As in many Fauvist works, it is the exploration of color and form, as well as the emotional impact of this piece, that takes precedence over realistic representation of reality. The figures stand upon an abstracted space that is meant to evoke the idea of interior anatomy. Bones and flesh are literally stepped upon to symbolize the Fauvist's movement lack of interest in the anatomy of the human form.

oil pastel, chalk pastel and charcoal on paper 16.5'' x 23.5 ''