The Human Figure
 Images of the body and its variety of gestures, forms, and attitudes are used in art to express or represent many different aspects of human nature and behavior. When an artist portrays the human body, the image is not a strict imitation of nature but has been interpreted to express an idea. Even art works in which the body seems true to nature are often idealized or abstracted. An artist might soften and romanticize the body, present it in a stark, sober way, or charge it with erotic
overtones. The body can be a starting point from which the artist proceeds to create an image that bears little resemblance to it. Or the artist may do the reverse and create an object, like a table or walking stick, that mimics the form of the human body.

The next section of "Multiple Choices," "The Human Figure," will examine how the body has served as a means for artistic expression. The works on view, including the intricately sculpted marble Veiled Rebekeh, as well as a selection of photographs, show the various ways in which the body is idealized, abstracted, eroticized and interpreted in art.
 
 

A_Rondel 
Battle of the Lapiths and Centaurs 
Cabinet 
Chaise 
Claret_Jug 
Diana and Hound 
Eleanor 
Eternal Spring 
Figures 
Girl_with_Poppies 
Helmet_Mask 
Matisse_with_His_Model
Mother 
New_Figuration 
Prudence 
Salton Sea, California 
Self-Portrait_on_Deserted_Road 
Temperance 
The_Moods_of_Time:_Evening 
The Thinker 
Triangles 
Tutor To a Lunatic 
Two_Dancers_Orpheus 
Untitled_(Longo) 
The Veiled Rebekah