POSTURES: Body Language in Art

Examining the body language displayed in works of art is a whole new way of looking at art. The gestures portrayed can reflect the mores of a particular period in history, the customs of a certain culture or a fashion in artistic styles. Exploring these with masterful subtlety, celebrated artist, ever provocative author of The Naked Ape and anthropologist Desmond Morris uncovers fascinating insights about changing social attitudes and conventions through history and around the world, finding surprising similarities as well as now rarely used gestures. Morris selects a number of key gestures, such as the handshake, the pointed foot, or the glove-slap, and groups them by the message they are intended to convey, such as Greetings, Status and Threats. He discusses the previously unconsidered symbolism behind these. What is understood as a gang sign today may have borne a more enigmatic meaning for Botticelli. And why did Napoleon pose for official portraits with his right hand thrust into his waistcoat? Every time an artist portrays a human subject, a decision has to be made about the posture of the figure. Will they be standing, sitting, or reclining? Smiling, screaming, or weeping? Clasping their hands, crossing their arms or raising their fist? All are illustrated with full colour works, ranging from prehistoric masks and Greek statues to contemporary paintings and sculptures and grouped under chapters: greetings, blessings, status, insults, threats, distress, self-protection, the erotic and at rest. An example might be Poussin's The Massacre of the Innocents showing in close up detail a baby being trodden on but a sword-wielding man or Picasso's Weeping Woman with Handkerchief or illuminated manuscripts and with the themes like fleeing, agony, symbolic distress, mourning to mooning. 231 illus, colour, 320 pages in a glamorous Thames & Hudson quality art book, 17 x 25cm.
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