I know close to nothing about art but I do know what I like. Then again, squirrels are natural nut-pickers which is barely different to being nit-pickers. Hence we are quite qualified to be critics. On such flimsy reasoning, I shall apply my superior rodent-sized brain to being an art critic, philosopher, and sociologist while incidentally finding the cure for cancer and solving the Grand Unified theory.
My topic today is beauty as portrayed in art. They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Well, the Squirrel observes that for most of history, man has considered fat to be beautiful. Don’t believe it? Let’s take a short trip though the history of art.
Exhibit Number One is the Venus of Willendorf which is the vision of feminine beauty as crafted by some Paleolithic caveman from about 20,000 years ago.
- Venus – Man’s Image of Feminine Beauty (circa 20,000 BC)
For Exhibit Two, the Squirrel presents to you representative art from the Baroque Period around the 16th Century by Peter Paul Rubens. A Rubens woman, according to the art historian Sir Kenneth Clark, is “plump and pearly,” while to Richard Klein, author of “Eat Fat,” she is a “luscious fat girl” who stands for “the whole weight and wealth of human nature.”


This image of beauty is still very much alive and kicking all the way up to the early 20th century. Exhibit Three is the work of Renoir. Georges Riviere contends that Renoir was very particular about his women and that he liked them fat with small noses, wide mouths, thick lips, and small teeth.
This art critic Squirrel contends that it is only in these last few generations that the image of beauty has changed to what we see today as demonstrated below….

People still consider Marilyn Monroe to have been one of the greatest beauties and she was no rail. I honestly don’t think most men go for the super skinny ladies. Fashion models are not chosen to appeal to men but to women’s ideals, so it’s sort of our own fault I guess.
another thought to this that I heard awhile back is that fat meant someone was rich. they could afford food and ate it and therefore since they were rich they were fat. but you probably said that…just in a different way. 🙂
and yet another thought in regards to art…I know what I like too. I like art with detail, fine detail. I’m not fond of Monet or Gogh. I’m not saying they were bad artists. I just don’t like their style.
I think you’re right. I think the advent of the skinny woman was also part of the de-feminizing of women which was part of feminism in general. Once women began competing in mens’ world and demanding equal rights and equal treatment in the workplace, in the bedroom, in the world in general, they peeled away many of the things that identified us as women. Voluptuous figures were replaced by androgenous Twiggy figures. We cut our long wavy hair and sported pixie cuts. We cast off all our shape-enhancing undergarments. We took on androgenous names. We got The Pill which enabled us to control when and if we wanted to get pregnant. We stopped breasfeeding our babies and gave them formula…you get the idea??
Maybe it is just human nature to admire what we are not? (I.e. fat when skinny, skinny when fat.)
geewits,
I, myself, think of Sophia Loren as the standard ideal and she too is no rail. Could it be that we have all been duped into this “skinny” frame of mind by the fashion world and its pr departments?
cabcree,
Well, if you like lots of detail, it’s no surprise that you are less enthusiastic about Monet and Van Gogh. I quite like Monet. Who’s art do you like?
XUP,
I think you are right!! It is all part of a clever scheme to de-feminise the female. I believe that there is a similar plot to emasculate men. It’s called the Metro-sexual male. Very clever. Obviously a plan for world domination. Wish I had thought of it first.
Kathyrn,
Right you are. “Grass always greener on the other side” syndrome. I think fat is naturally and scientifically beautiful though.
no particular artist. I just like detailed paintings. I remember seeing a painting at musee d’orsay…I think it was Veer? not super sure…and it was so detailed. you could see the blood drop on the knife. I remember it was a painting about a surgery. Yes, I’m weird…that stuff doesn’t gross me out. And I don’t care if people talk about gross things or watch gross things while I’m eating either. Maybe I should’ve been a mortician?
Hello LGS, the least I could do was to return your visit 🙂
I had to laugh when I read your last post. I think you were hungry when you wrote this 🙂
I’m happy you still have the same wicked sense of humour!
Le Night Owl,
To be honest, I am seldom not hungry especially when I am trying to diet. I do enjoy our chats so please do visit often.
To be honest, LGS, I am lucky not to have to diet, but when I feel I ate too much over the week-end (my mother makes mean cakes, and I have a very sweet tooth) I compensate by walking a little longer 🙂
(PS: I’ll try to visit as often as I can, but I only spend very little time online).
Love this post… so, is what you’re saying is that beauty is in the stomach of the beholder, rather than in the eye ?
And thanks for bringing the Venus of W. back into the public eye here, hadn’t seen much of her since my art history classes. The feminine goddess… Personally I think we were better off with feminine deities, rather than the macho model we got stuck with when the older religions got hijacked by some upstarts a couple thousand years ago…
Owen,
Interestingly, in Western culture, emotions and feelings are associated with the heart but in Malay, the word “hati” is used. Although many understand it to mean the heart but its original and still commonly used meaning is “liver”. So really, in the Malay cultural perspective, the emotions originate from the liver or really the visceral organs; i.e. the guts. Kind of like “gut feelings”. So, yes, beauty is in the stomach of the beholder!