Enfilade

Opening in March at Syracuse University:

Undressed: The Nude in Dutch Art, 1550–1800

Syracuse University Art Galleries, 17 March — 9 May 2026

Pieter van Veen (1667–1736), The Rape of Proserpina, oil on canvas.

This exhibition, encompassing twenty-one works in various media, surveys the portrayal of nudity and semi-nudity in a variety of subjects rendered by Dutch artists over several centuries. It will explore how the nude has been articulated, both artistically and contextually, to disrupt traditional ideas of nudity in art, which were primarily argued by Sir Kenneth Clark in The Nude: A Study in Ideal Form (1956). In this influential text, Clark posited that the presence of the nude in art, existed above and beyond cultural circumstances, as a timeless, almost abstract ideal. He advanced a distinction between ‘naked’ and ‘nude’, with the latter explained as an idealization, or an evocation of timeless ideals. To the contrary, this exhibition presents nudity in art as a phenomenon that is time-bound and culturally determined.

This exhibition is curated by Wayne Franits (Distinguished Professor and Department Chair, Art and Music Histories) and the eight senior art history majors enrolled in the fall 2025 course HOA 498: Senior Seminar, Research and Professional Practice.