24th September 2013 - 2nd January 2014
As surprising as it may seem, it wasn’t untilNäckte Männer [Nude Men], organised by the Leopold Museum in Vienna (October 2012-March 2013), that a major exhibition tackled the representation of the nude man, a theme that is nonetheless a key element in Western art.
With Masculine / Masculine, the Musée d'Orsay wanted to continue this project and to show that declarations of aesthetic faith, dogma and artistic attitudes of the 19th century relating to male nudity, have their origins in the Classicism of the 18th century, an influence that continues today.
Organised around powerful themes, the exhibition establishes a genuine dialogue between paintings, sculptures, graphic arts and photographs, weaving threads through different eras with unexpected yet productive confrontations, and where contemporary works shed new light on previous centuries.