Under the pretext that the treatment of the human body in twentieth century art has rejected the clichéd traditional concept of the beautiful nude, Stripped Bare presents an array of contemporary photographs, paintings and sculptures.

Following the introduction four essays consider how we and the artist view the subject, how cultural issues influences our understanding of the nude, the relationship between art and pornography, and the influence of the cinema in the portrayal of the human body.

With around 130 colour pictures and a similar number of black and white or sepia images, the book is predominately and profusely illustrated with many of the pictures full page in size. The emphasis seems to be on the photographic image, although there area good number of paintings and drawings, much less three-dimensional work. The artists include Nobuyoshi Araki, Bill Brandt, Georges Braque, Cézanne, Gustave Courbet, Damien Hirst, Man Ray, Robert Mapplethorpe, Richard Prince, Paul MacCarthy, Cindy Sherman, Luc Tuymans, Andy Warhol and many more.

The essays read well, but there is little direct reference to the pictures contained here. There are notated references at the conclusion of most essays. The book includes an index to artists in the text and illustrated, but nothing else.

The overall impression from glancing at the images contained here is far removed from the concept of the body beautiful, neither are they for the most part particularly erotic, rather they show the body not so much in the nude but in the raw, stark and clinical, and often very explicit. If you are likely to be shocked then maybe this is not for you! However it does present a very revealing picture of how the human body is portrayed in the art of some today. ( )