Figure Study: The Body in Art

Mesopotamian statuettes, the Woman of Willendorf, Egyptian tomb reliefs: some of mankind’s earliest artistic endeavors were human figures. Over the thousands of years that man has been creating art, the human body is by far the most popular subject. 

This exhibition looks at how artists have used the body in their work – from life-drawing classes and anatomical studies to more formal portraiture and abstraction – and the different types of bodies artists portray. Celebrating diversity in both body type and artistic media, Figure Study illustrates how central the human form has been to the world of art.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website