Nudes and Porn

As you might have heard, a famous nude painting by Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani sold for $170 million at Christie's auction. Some people guffawed at the price tag attached to an early 20th century artwork, others just blushed at the naked female body contained within Modigliani's frame.

Take, for example, Bloomberg news. During a broadcast segment on Tuesday, Bloomberg censored the painting, blurring the areas of the painting depicting breasts and pubic hair. "Too racy!" the anchors exclaimed, a little embarrassed by the painterly brazenness of "Reclining Nude." 

The whole world seems to have discovered the goal of my 1996-1997 exhibition at the Fraser Gallery which focused on nude portrait of porn actresses and the then new phenomenon of online porn celebrities.

My question was essentially the same as Colbert's: If this woman shows a nude image of herself on the Internet, it's porn, but if I do a nude drawing of her, then it's art.

The opening was packed (many of the ladies attended the opening reception), and even the prudish Washington Post covered it (read the review here).