Classic Beauties Get a Shocking Phototshop Treatment

[Neoma]

“What would have happened if the aesthetic standard of our society had belonged to the collective unconscious of the great artists of the past?” So asks Italian artist Anna Utopia Giordano in her Venus project, which re-imagines classic artistic depictions of Venus with a modern and extreme Photoshop makeover. What begin as mostly Rubenesque beauties are transformed into busty, slim-waisted figures more closely matching the ideals we are bombarded with today.

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[leveymg]

1. "Six is the new 14"

I blame those ruling the fashion industry who hate women's bodies.

[patrice]

2. sad.

[qb]

3. The modified images are strangely hideous.

The artist makes a valuable statement about obsession over body image.

[zazen]

4. juxtaposition with unaltered bodies accentuates the hideousness

The women look emaciated next to the plump cherubs and angels.

[TlalocW]

5. He also should have

Had some of the cupids lose their love handles and had them sporting six-packs.

TlalocW

[intheflow]

6. Most telling line from the link:

While some may appear to have found some healthy improvement with their digital nip and tuck, others turn out looking disturbingly thin and adolescent.

Disturbingly adolescent is right! Although very familiar with most of these paintings, I never before noticed that all the women are without pubic hair. After this photoshop treatment, it popped right out at me. They don't look like shaved women, they look like a bunch of 'tweens who have been turned into sex objects. Ewwww.

[harmonicon]

8. That's just our modern conditioning making that value judgement.

Into the 20th century, even nude photographs were altered to remove pubic hair, because showing it was considered to be unsavory, and pornographic, or at least more pornographic.

[4th law of robotics]

24. They were still being influenced by the Greek view of beauty

In which body hair wasn't seen as particularly beautiful.

If you notice most of their statues (male and female) were hairless. Even David only has a tiny tuft of pubic hair. None on his chest or anywhere else.

This stems from their view of pre-pubescent boys as the ideal of what is beautiful.

I was really disturbed when I first heard that (some documentary, don't remember the name). Puts all those old statues in a new light when you consider the artist was comparing all the models to a naked underage boy.

Different times, different standard and all. But yeesh.

[parkia00]

7. Well... not all is "fixed"

Venus still has the broken neck syndrome.

[NoMoreWarNow]

9. the original women are WAY more attractive, imo

I don't know why people don't find the classic natural female figure beautiful.

[Stargazer09]

10. Ugh

I liked the originals much better.

My oldest daughter (who just turned 13) is already worried about getting fat. She's a size 4 and is 5'11" tall! I am constantly telling her to stop worrying. I hate our society for making her feel bad about her body at such a young age.

[Neoma]

11. I spent my youth worrying about being too skinny.

Being tall makes me look skinnier.

[Stargazer09]

12. I got teased about that, too.

I was super thin for years, and it was difficult, but I think I had an easier time than the girls in my class who were heavier.

Why can't everyone just be accepted for who they are?

[Neoma]

14. Well, it's like how angry shouting people try to scare other people to protect themselves.

People try to hide their own insecurities by pointing out 'bad' things about other people. I don't know any time worse in a persons life than puberty as far as insecurities go.

[DaveJ]

13. They ask "Which do you find more attractive?"

Hmm. I wouldn't really know having no idea what their personalities are. I mean, how has shallowness become such an acceptable trait?

I can say that the thinner women look hungrier. Hungry usually equals cranky so I'd guess I'd be more attracted to the former women. Just a guess.

[Beacool]

15. The masterpieces are far better than the photo-shopped copies.

Standards of beauty have changed, but the obsession with a woman's appearance has only gotten worse.

Why is it that women as powerful as Hillary or Michelle are still judged by their appearance? During Obama's last State of the Union two of the most tweeted topics were Michelle's dress and Hillary's headband.

[Neoma]

16. Not that they don't judge mens looks either.

Obama not having enough gray hair during his campaign.

[marble falls]

17. I prefer the more zoftig origionals.

[GTurck]

18. I saw this...

project last winter on the Net. What it shows is a change from sensuousness to sexiness. We seem to confuse the two.

[starroute]

19. I'll confess, though, that I find Durer's Eve a bit too chunky around the hips

Especially compared with his very buff Adam.

[Neoma]

20. Women aren't supposed to have man-hips.

Otherwise we'd go through hard pregnancies.

[McCamy Taylor]

21. Scary!

[midnight]

22. I don't see that slimming the Venus improved the work... I wonder how this experiment will be

perceived by others?