Debating the Ethics of Nude Children in Art

An article from DailyArt Magazine examines the ethical complexities of depicting nude children in Western art, spanning from historical paintings to contemporary photography. It highlights works by John William Waterhouse, Mary Cassatt, Henry Scott Tuke, Paul Gauguin, Graham Ovenden, Balthus, Eric Gill, Louise Bourgeois, and Sally Mann. In 2018, artist Sonia Boyce temporarily removed Waterhouse's 'Hylas and the Nymphs' from Manchester Art Gallery as feminist performance art, sparking harassment. The piece discusses the heterosexual male gaze, the colonial racist fantasy in Gauguin's 'Nevermore' (painted of his 15-year-old wife Pahura), and the convicted pedophile Ovenden. It contrasts Cassatt's intimate portraits and Bourgeois's 'Children in Tub' with the problematic works of Gill, who abused his daughters. Sally Mann's 1992 'Immediate Family' series is noted for both acclaim and accusations of exploitation; Mann says she would not release such a book today due to the internet. The article calls for centering female, queer, and parental gazes to move beyond the 'child as erotic prey' perspective.