The Nude, Essence and Desire: Revisiting Chinese and Western Views of the Nude with François Jullien and Giorgio Agamben

Abstract François Jullien believes that the pillar of Western nude art is the philosophical concepts of essence and ideal, while the benti (the Chinese counterpart of ontology) view of Chinese philosophy emphasizes change and process; therefore, it is impossible for Chinese painting to see the nude as essence. Jullien excludes works such as Chungong paintings (Chinese Spring Palace paintings) from the category of nude art because he holds that they depict nakedness, namely the process from “being dressed” to “being naked,” rather than the nude, the natural state of being naked. However, Giorgio Agamben draws on the Christian view of the nude to point out that the nude is always relative to revelation–what exists only is the state of nakedness, while the nude never exists. Nakedness is attached to “undressing,” which is endless because desire is endless. Noticeably, Agamben introduces the dimension of desire into the discussion of nude art, which has successfully created a comparative ground for Chinese and Western nude art. The sexual relationships depicted in Chungong paintings embody the Chinese view of the body and the universe, sharing a similar view in the theme of desire as in Western paintings. Thus, with the inclusion of desire, works such as Chungong paintings shall also be considered in transcultural reflections on artistic traditions between East and West.