A simple hat, seen on many women of the time, was enough to push the painting out of the world of the ideal and into the realm of the erotic. A recently opened show at the Barbican re-examines the work of one of the most celebrated proponents of “body art”, the late Carolee Schneemann, who, in 1959, travelled down the East Coast, then took a ferry to Cuba for an abortion, which was provided without anaesthetic. Yep, just like every year, 2021 was no exception when it comes to those celebs getting their kit off - from naked Instagram posts to nearly-nude red carpet dresses.

The art historical canon has focused on these and other artworks created by male artists and stresses that they were made for male patrons, to be viewed mainly by men in private settings. Kim Kardashian posted this naked selfie in response to critics speculating about whether her second pregnancy is 'real'. These vivid, destabilized photos possess a fidgety energy, examining how the Awoulaba, or “beauty queen” mannequin propagates certain ideas of Black female beauty, contrasting it to the Taille fine, which adheres to westernized beauty standards.

I felt it would be powerful to show a relaxed woman sitting at a large scale in a public space – for her to really be taking up that space,” she explains.

As women’s rights come under attack, the courage, imagination and revolutionary spirit of artists can be the catalyst for change our society needs. In the Middle Ages, the Church used the nude to show the vulnerability of man, aware of the importance of the image in teaching religion to the illiterate. The Female Nude represents the first feminist survey of the most significant subject in Western art.In The Tub of 1886, the position of the woman, the still life with the toiletries, the false perspective and the overhang make this pastel one of the most masterful nude compositions of Degas’ work and of the period. This discomfort with recognisable, everyday people as the subject of nude portraits was only accentuated in the 20th Century as the nude entered the domestic space, with paintings of bodies appearing in bedrooms or studio interiors. The nude fascinates us for a very simple and quite profound reason and that is that it’s art about us. She spoke of “the power of the naked body as an active image rather the same old, pacified, immobilised, historicised body”. It proved a point the group had set out to make: the public is comfortable exposing female bodies, but the same doesn’t apply to the male form.

In Her Rooms has recently attracted more attention, and I think that that is because the goal of this series was not to sell a product. I believe this to be strictly linked to the mentality that lies behind the production of such images, which is largely subordinate to the logic of marketing and profit. Over the centuries and across movements, nude paintings have created an aesthetic of the body and beauty. Philip Wilson Steer’s portrait from the turn of the century is a perfect example of how one small detail can make a work controversial.

She stares at the viewer: it is this direct gaze and expression of indifference that causes a scandal. In 1790, Francisco de Goya showed, likely for the first time, the pubic hair of a real woman and not of a goddess or nymph in his painting La maja desnuda. Representations of naked female forms, mostly white, in European culture have existed throughout art history.

Reader’s Digest is a member of the Independent Press Standards Organisation (which regulates the UK’s magazine and newspaper industry). In 1973, the film theorist Laura Mulvey identified a phen­omenon she termed the “male gaze”: the idea that gender (and, we might retrospectively add, sexual orientation) has an effect on what we enjoy looking at and how we present that subject in art. To be able to take care of our bodies and listen to their new needs day after day is, right now, an act of love for the whole community. It was no longer the forms and subjects that are highlighted, but rather the intensity of colors, contrasts and light.

The result is a series of nudes that – featuring girls from all cultures and walks of life – reflects women’s uniqueness. The project was not inspired by a personal economic gain but by the empathy and solidarity I felt towards all women in the world.