Torso of Venus 1887

Vincent van Gogh made this drawing of a torso of Venus using graphite. The image of Venus comes freighted with cultural baggage. From ancient Greece through the Renaissance, artists depicted her as the ideal of female beauty. By the late 19th century, in the art academies of Europe, drawing from classical casts like this one was a standard part of artistic training. Students were expected to master the classical forms as a foundation for their own work. But by the 1880s, some artists were rebelling against the rigid academic system. Van Gogh himself studied briefly at the Antwerp Academy, where he was critical of what he saw as its stifling methods. To better understand this drawing, it helps to consider not only Van Gogh's biography, but also the broader context of art education and the changing role of classical ideals in late 19th-century art.