Birth of Venus
Artist
George Copeland Ault
(American, 1891 - 1948)
Date1935
MediumGraphite on paper
DimensionsUnframed: 16 3/4 x 12 3/4 inches (42.55 x 32.39 cm)
Credit LineGift of Donald Lokuta
Object number2010.66.2
Signedl.r.: G. C. Ault '35
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionContour line drawing of reclining woman resting on shore with hands behind head and proper left knee bent; in middleground at right, sailboat passes in front of distant lighthouse below two cloudsGallery Label
According to ancient Roman myth, the goddess Venus was born from foam that resulted after her castrated father’s genitals were thrown into the sea. Ault took artistic license with this dramatic story and depicted his goddess of love as a foreshortened sunbather peacefully lounging while a sail boat glides past a lighthouse in the distance. By titling the drawing Birth of Venus, Ault—perhaps with tongue-in-cheek—participated in the centuries-old tradition of using classical mythology to cloak the representation of the female nude in respectability.
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