The language of the body : drawings by Pierre-Paul Prud'hon / text by John Elderfield ; drawings selected by Robert Gordon

Includes bibliographical references

The language of the body -- To proceed from the interior -- Reason and pleasure -- Public and private -- Prud'hon-Mayer -- A matter of ideal -- The Académie -- The bodily text -- Posing to be drawn -- Boundary crossings -- Exposure and enclosure -- The design of the body -- The drawings of light -- Epilogue -- The plates -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Acknowledgments

French artist Pierre-Paul Prud'hon (1758-1823) is best known as a painter of mythological and allegorical subjects that impressed his younger contemporaries Theodore Gericault and Eugene Delacroix. Fully as deserving of attention is a series of exquisite chalk studies - known as academies - that he made throughout his career. These drawings of male and female nudes - many of which have never before been published - are the focus of this beautiful and unique book. In his text, John Elderfield first discusses Prud'hon's life and work, examining the complexities and contradictions of his career and his singular place in the art of his time, including his role in the creation of the modern female nude. Then he considers the drawings themselves. Following the text are fifty-seven of Prud'hon's finest drawings - reproduced in full color - carefully selected and arranged by Robert Gordon to unfold in a visual display of gesture and form. The book concludes with the author's notes and a selected bibliography