Artist : Vira Jothaprasert
Technique : Etching print on paper
Year : 1998
Size : 50 x 33.5 cm.

Nudity in art has been a subject much explored and discussed by many. Especially with female nudity, whether divine or mortal, it stirs both fascination and shock. 

For many centuries, the female body has been portrayed and used as an expressive tool to convey purity, curiosity and a state of eternal for there are no limiting factors to the natural curves and unmarked skin.

The man’s idealism has manifested through the form of naked female body, such view should not be concerned with the superficial visuals but the message behind each detail. There is a point of view presented here, based on one person’s romantic notion of safety, an almost childlike innocent longing for a nurturing figure projected on an artwork.

Vira Jothaprasert (1934-2002) was an art instructor at Silpakorn University. He was known and well-respected for watercolour painting, print and etching. His works were not particularly concentrated within the subject of nudity but almost always in research of form and in 2 dimension perspective. MoNWIC currently is in possession of 16 pieces of artwork from the master artist, 8 of them are nude etchings. The earlier series of nude prints were from the 1970s, Nude No.7 is a part of a series from 1998, a revisitation of the previous series.