Name: Spreading the Feast Gathering
Start: 2025-07-11T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-07-12T23:59:59-05:00
Location: LaGrange, KY

Tagged: kids art books

This topic has 22 replies, 14 voices, and was last updated 15 years, 3 months ago by missingtheshire.

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April 21, 2009 at 3:02 am
Kelly Bond
Participant
Hello everyone,
I recently took out some kids’ art books on some of the Impressionist artists so my almost 4-year-old son could look through them. Nothing major, I thought, just some nice pictures to introduce to him. I was a bit shocked then when he brought me a page with the back side of a nude woman and asked what it was (in the way that he knew what it was but wasn’t quite sure how to handle it). I scolded MYSELF for not perusing the book first, but really didn’t expect to find that in a kids’ art book. I just kind of took it away and gave him something else to look at.
Obviously, I will screen future books more carefully but it made me curious to ask if others have encountered this and how did you handle it…discuss it or slyly put it away?
April 21, 2009 at 3:51 am
Sonya Shafer
Moderator
If the book belongs to me, I staple those pages shut. If the book is borrowed, I don’t allow the children to browse through it until I have previewed it.
It’s too bad that so much of those inappropriate pictures are included and counted as art. I think for a 4yo, you handled it all right. Too much discussion would have cemented the situation in his mind. By matter-of-factly taking the book away, he probably won’t remember it as a shocking moment.
April 21, 2009 at 5:50 am
Jimmie
Member
It’s not a huge issue for me. I don’t think all nudity is necessarily bad or inappropriate. We study a lot of art because my daughter is highly creative and artistic. I never deface our books. We simply skip over offending parts. In fact, there have been disturbing images in our science or history books as well. I remember a rather scary monkey face that we covered with a post-it note. Returning to the book years later, my daughter was no longer scared by the image, so we removed the paper. Nudity may be similar. Certain ages can handle it while some cannot.
We recently studied Picasso, and nudity is huge with him. When the image troubled my daughter, we turned the page. But if she was okay with it, then we would go ahead and study it. Having a sensitive daughter makes a difference, I think. If I had a son, my approach would probably be different.
Basically each family has to find what works for their particular beliefs and sensitivities. We are all different.
April 23, 2009 at 7:27 am
Jimmie
Member
I found a neat PDF about nudity. It may be of interest to someone —
http://www.artic.edu/aic/education/trc/nudesinart.pdf
(It does include B&W images of nudes in classic art.)
July 11, 2009 at 6:45 pm
meagan
Participant
I know this is kind of old, but putting my two cents in….
My husband and I have raised 3 sons, the oldest is now almost 14 and the youngest 9. When they have encountered things like that, or asked questions, we try to answer them honestly, accurately (with correct terminology) and then move on.
Obviously, the best line of defense is just not to let the kids see what you think is objectionable, but you’re right, what passes as “child-appropriate” these days is absurd, and unfortunately, you don’t know what they’ll see at a friends house. If they do encounter things like that we’ve found that a concise,
brief answer that is still accurate works the best. And, they may not even have to see things in books or movies to ask. When our youngest was very small, maybe 5, he asked lots of questions about what the different parts of his body were. Our middle child asked us why men couldn’t have babies, and the answer of that a baby grows inside a uterus, which only women have sufficed for him. Normally when we are honest with them they will just go along on their way and don’t give it much more thought.
Just some of my experiences 🙂
July 12, 2009 at 1:40 am
Mamasong
Member
I’m curious how y’all enjoy Michelangelo or Boticelli together during art study if you don’t allow nudity? I’m not saying we ought to casually introduce our children to lewdness but how then do you share the masterpieces of some of the greatest artists of western civilization? Thanks
Rachel
July 12, 2009 at 2:13 am
missingtheshire
Member
I don’t know if it is a cultural difference between Europe and the US, but nudity is not such a big issue over there in general. I was fortunate to be raised in a home that was able to visit art galleries in various European Cities, where there was a lot of nudity on display. I saw the works of Michaelangelo, Rubens and Botticelli in Rome and Paris. We also saw the Sistine Chapel, which I will never forget for its beauty – our daughters saw the statue of David in Rome and were stunned by the mastery of the sculpture, far more than shocked at the naked aspect of it. My parents raised me not to be shocked by the human form and to understand that the human body made by God is beautiful – (they were far more strict about me seeing violence). As such I have never been shocked by any art I have seen, though I like some artists better than others. I therefore have never hidden any paintings from our girls, they have grown up with large coffee table art books, and have enjoyed the works of art immensely. It is interesting to me that they have not been harmed by this experience at all, they are extremely modest girls and have no interest in showing off their own bodies, but they certainly have an appreciation for fine art in all its forms. I respect any parent who wants to vet the books and art they show their children, that is for each family to decide, and there is much art that is highly valuable that does not contain nudity – to me it is just a small part of all the amazing art that is out there, so I don’t think that is a problem. I also think that if a family feels strongly enough that their children should not see nudity, then it will be fine, not everything that Botticelli or Michaleangelo painted involved nudity – so you can still study those artists and avoid the things that are not acceptable for your own family. If you visit the galleries in Europe though it would be hard to avoid I have to say, I am sure that may be the same here, though I have not had the pleasure yet of visiting a famous gallery here. There is so much wonderful art out there, it would not be easy to avoid nudity if one should want to.
July 12, 2009 at 3:08 am
Mamasong
Member
That’s pretty much my thinking and experience too, thanks for sharing. I grew up going to the museums and galleries in San Francisco and my mom is an amazing artist who always had lots of great art books around. I just can’t imagine editing out Boticelli’s Birth of Venus or Michelangelo’s David but, like you said, it’s for each family to decide. I was more wondering if there were exceptions that some folks make for the sake of sharing the major masterpieces with their children.
Rachel
July 12, 2009 at 3:49 pm
mrskatie
Participant
I was strongly encouraged by a wise homeschool mom that I greatly admire, to expose/not shelter kids from classic art that has nudity. I have heard that exposing it to them young helps them to appreciate the form as art and not as pornography. (In cases where that is what it truly is.) Then when your kids grow up to young men and women they can discern between the two.
All that to say, it goes against everything I have ever been taught and I’m not sure how we will present it to our kids who are still very young. I still need to talk this one over with my husband. I feel I was over sheltered as a child in the area of modesty and sexuality and am trying to find the balance to it all.
July 12, 2009 at 4:46 pm
missingtheshire
Member
MrsKatie – I agree with the homeschool mom who talked to you. I was raised as I said in a previous post in a home where I was not sheltered from nudity in art – I do believe that because it was a very natural thing to me, that I was better able to discern what was beautiful and artistic and what was pornography or verging on it. Our daughters have seen billboards on the roads over here that they say are disgusting and they usually are – advertising various adult activities, however they look at the art of the masters and just see beauty – they do not relate the two as the same at all. I am very glad that I was not sheltered that much as a child, in Europe I would have missed so much, if that had been the case. A lot of churches in Germany for example have the most beautiful frescoes and art work, but there are nudes there, however there is nothing disgusting about them. Because my parents never acted shocked or embarrased about the art we viewed in the galleries, it all seemed most natural to me, There is no comparison between the art of the old masters and pornography, one is beautiful and tasteful and the other is anything but. Some modern art stretches the bounds of decency, but our daughters now have a strong sense of what is art and what is something else – I hope you do find a balance, that you are happy with and wish you luck.
July 12, 2009 at 6:42 pm
meagan
Participant
Ladies,
I just wanted to say thank you all for sharing your thoughts. I often times feel alone in that I do not hide nudity in art from our children, and that we talk openly and honestly (and age appropriately) with them about these things at a young age. This has been encouraging for me. I don’t want anyone to feel like I think they are doing the wrong thing for their family, each family is different and needs to handle things in a different way. It’s just nice to know I am not the only family like mine!! 🙂
March 3, 2010 at 3:20 pm
kimofthesavages
Participant
I searched for a thread on this subject because I am finding it very difficult to find a good art collection book that doesn’t have nudity. I have a little boy, 6, and so I’m especially eager to have wisdom in this area. I’m not sure there is a difference between nudity in a painting and nudity in a photograph. Plenty of people today say that pornographic magazines are very artistic…so maybe in a few 100 years certain ones of those will be in art books, called great art?, but that doesn’t make it right. Well, this is what I am struggling with right now. I checked out a book from our library called “1001 paintings to see before you die” or something like that. What a great idea, I thought! But there were pictures in there that I saw, while flipping through it at home, that I really wish I could erase from my mind. Please, are there any good art collection books out there that do not contain nudity? I am about to the point where I am going to just have to purchase some but then cut certain pages out (or staple them…that is a good idea too). ~kim
March 3, 2010 at 3:57 pm
missingtheshire
Member
Even though we have different ideas on this subject, I very much respect your views and I have a suggestion. Rather than buy one big book, why don’t you purchase some calendars of artists, or packets of prints of artists, that way you can discern which ones to discard and which to use. I think there are many web sites that you could look at as well, and print off some paintings that are to your taste. Olga’s Art Gallery is one – she has the nudes as well, but you can find loads of paintings that are not of nudes if that is what you prefer. Ambleside online have some great prints and if you join the forum you can download them and print them off or look at them on your computer. I have those and print them off, and pin them on a board, which we leave up in central location where we see it often. I hope these ideas help, the truth is, if you are not comfortable with the nudes, you will not be comfortable with them in your home, so you should without concern or worry use what you are happy with and not worry about the rest of us. Do what is right for you and you won’t go wrong. I hope my suggestions help in some small way. Linda
March 3, 2010 at 5:33 pm
Sonya Shafer
Moderator
Unfortunately, you will find nudes in many of the master artists’ works. Here’s how I handle it: If we own the book, I go through it and staple shut the pages that have inappropriate images. If the book is from the library, I keep it in my possession and display only the pictures I approve of. I don’t let the children browse through it.
March 3, 2010 at 10:06 pm
syrophenician woman
Participant
Another option is to take a Sharpie marker and black out any photos/images that you deem inappropriate that might be in an otherwise good book you own.
Regarding Art curriculum, we have used ARTistic Pursuits (www.artisticpursuits.com) and greatly enjoy it. Brenda Ellis has done a good job of presenting the “masters” without exposing her audience to any “undesirable” content. I highly recommend it!