Tag Archives: pornography versus nudity in art

Pornhub launches guide to famous museum erotic art

Unbeknownst to many, some of the world’s best pornography doesn’t exist on Pornhub. Rather, it exists in famous museums around the world: The Louvre (France), The MET (New York City), The Prado (Spain), The Uffizi Gallery (Italy), The National Gallery (UK) and Musee d’Orsay (France), to name a few.

And with museums finally reopening around the world as pandemic restrictions are being lifted, Pornhub wanted to do its part to encourage people to enjoy every stroke of erotic art.

Pornhub is launching “Classic Nudes” to provide museum-goers with an interactive oral history of some of the most renowned erotic art in some of the world’s most famous museums. Pornhub is encouraging people to ditch those boring self-tour recordings and enjoy every single brushstroke of these erotic masterpieces with Pornhub Brand Ambassador Asa Akira.

New York – July, 2021 – Pornhub, the premier online destination for adult entertainment, today announced the launch of “Classic Nudes,” an interactive guide to discover and learn more about erotic art in some of the world’s most famous fine art museums – The Louvre (France), The MET (New York City), The Prado (Spain), The Uffizi Gallery (Italy), The National Gallery (UK) and the Musee d’Orsay (France). With museums finally reopening around the world as pandemic restrictions are being lifted, Pornhub wanted to do its part in stimulating the public to visit, explore and fall back in love (or lust) with these cultural institutions.

The public can tour each of the 6 museums  – either in person or at home – via the Classic Nudes mobile website. The online portal guides visitors past the SFW masterpieces and gets right to the good stuff: representations of the naked body in all its artistic glory. Simply visit the Classic Nudes website on your device, select your museum, follow the map, locate the artwork, and listen, read, or watch along to its curated content.

Hungarian-Italian artist and porn legend Cicciolina stars in the promotional video for Classic Nudes.  Pornhub Brand Ambassador Asa Akira serves as orator for the campaign providing an oral history of 30 erotic art pieces in this curated collection, while Pornhub amateur couple, “MySweetApple” brings 6 iconic artwork to life.

“There’s a treasure trove of erotic art around the world – depicting nudes, orgies, and more – that’s not available on Pornhub. These pre-Internet art pieces are currently sitting in museums, which we are now finally able to start visiting again as covid restrictions are starting to lift ,” said Asa Akira, Pornhub Brand Ambassador. “So as people start to head back to  The Louvre or The MET, they can simply open Classic Nudes, and I’ll be their guide. Time to ditch those boring self-tour recordings and enjoy every single brushstroke of these erotic masterpieces with me.”

Classic Nudes follows previous artistic endeavors from Pornhub including the recently launched “Remastured,” an initiative that used modern A.I technology and machine learning to restore century-old erotic films into titillating technicolor.

Previously, the company commissioned contemporary art gallery Maccarone Los Angeles to present a feminist art show entitled ‘The Pleasure Principle,’ a pan-generational, sexually-charged exhibition of female artists whose work centers the erotic and disrupts the processes of content-cleansing that code certain images as profane, abject, or pornographic. Pornhub also hosted the online premier of SHAKEDOWN, the critically-acclaimed documentary art film centered around the Black lesbian stripper scene in early oughts Los Angeles by filmmaker and vanguard artist Leilah Weinraub. 

Pornhub’s “Classic Nudes” campaign is a collaborative initiative with creative agency Officer & Gentleman.

For more information about Classic Nudes, please visit http://www.phclassicnudes.com/

About Pornhub:

Founded in 2007, Pornhub is the leading free, ad-supported adult video streaming website, offering viewers the opportunity to upload and share their own videos. With over 3 million videos and over 130 million visitors a day, Pornhub truly is the best adult site in the world. Pornhub has built the largest dedicated membership base in the adult community, averaging over 76 million monthly active members, offering viewers a fun and sophisticated social experience directly insite, complete with messaging, photos, achievement badges, and much more.

Government Of Belgium Battling Social Media Sites Blocking Nude Artwork

Facebook and other social media sites are blocking masterpieces of “nude” art from Rubens, Bruegel, Van Eyck and others. In an open letter, several top European Museums are asking social networks to reconsider their policy. Facebook has been in the spotlight recently for blocking content including some parts of the United States Constitution and other historical documents and multimedia content.

Artistic censorship continues to pursue Peter Paul Rubens. In the 17th century, the Flemish Baroque painter was asked by the Catholic Church to paint camouflaging ‘loincloths’ over certain body parts of his Venus figures. Nowadays, social media networks, including Facebook, go one step further. All breasts, buttocks and cherubs painted by artists such as Rubens are banned on these platforms. ‘Bots’ on Facebook use artificial intelligence to screen for nudity, but do not make a distinction between pornographic images or nudity in art. Flanders – the perfect place to enjoy the Flemish Masters in all their glory – is denouncing this artistic censorship in a playful manner. At the Rubens House, ‘nudity viewers’ with a Facebook account were blocked from viewing nudity by a group of “social media police agents”.

Peter Paul Rubens Flemish Master Painter

The Flemish Masters are best experienced in Flanders, the number one destination for art lovers. After all, this is where Rubens, Bruegel and Van Eyck lived and worked. Their work can often be found still hanging in the very same places for which they were made. “We want to promote this unique experience,” says Peter De Wilde, CEO of VISITFLANDERS. “Our Flemish Masters attract hundreds of thousands of visitors to Flanders each year and we are proud of this achievement.

Pieter Bruegel Flemish Master Painter

With our multi-year program focusing on Rubens, Bruegel and Van Eyck, which was launched in 2018, we are aiming for three million visitors by the end of 2020. At the moment it is not possible for us to promote our unique cultural heritage via one of the most popular social media networks. Our art is categorized as being indecent and sometimes even pornographic. This is such a shame as it restricts the promotion of our Flemish Masters.”

Eve detail Ghent Altarpiece by Jan van Eyck
Eve detail Ghent Altarpiece by Jan van Eyck

The agency in charge of promoting tourism in Flanders, Belgium explains that they have invested 30 million US dollars in 2018 to improve the experience of cultural travelers visiting that region, especially in cities like Antwerp, Bruges, Ghent and Brussels. Now they can’t promote some of those museums due to restrictive policies applied by some online social networks.

Jan van Eyck Flemish Master Painter

‘We are for it and not against it’ is what the people of Flanders say. Peter De Wilde explains, “Social media and art have a lot in common. Art brings people together. Social media brings people together, and our Flemish Masters too. This is why we want to enter into discussions with Facebook so that we can use this platform as one way in which to make our art visible. Surely it’s not that difficult to differentiate between cultural heritage and gratuitous nudity?”

VISITFLANDERS position is supported by several top museums in Belgium and around Europe. In an open letter, the institutions ask Mark Zuckerberg to revise Facebook’s policy related to art, culture and heritage. Click here to read the open letter.

“We tried various channels to bring this matter to Facebook’s attention. Unfortunately nobody listened,” De Wilde explains. Flanders hopes the comedy video produced in Rubens’s House will facilitate a discussion to solve the issue and allow users to view this content that is present in encyclopedias and elementary school grade text books. “Flanders is a unique art destination. But because we are naturally modest in Flanders, we do not shout out about it often enough. This stunt enables us to make our presence felt and also honor the spirit of Pieter Paul Rubens. He was an artistic rebel who was not afraid of engaging in social debate. There’s no finer tribute to honor our Flemish Master than by taking up the battle against unnecessary artistic censorship.”  For the Silo, Marcos Stupenengo.

About the Flemish Masters.
For over 250 years, from the 15th to long into the 17th century, Flanders was a figurehead for fine arts in Western Europe and the source of inspiration for well-known art movements of the time, such as the Flemish primitives, the Renaissance and the Baroque. Artists were known for their craftsmanship, creativity and technical innovations and they transformed the prosperous and urbanized Flanders into one of the most refined cultural regions with their impressive artistic and architectural creations.

About Peter Paul Rubens, master of female nudity.
Rubens is the best-known Flemish Master. This Baroque painter, illustrator and diplomat was one of the most celebrated artists of the 17th century. He exerted a particularly strong influence. He was a master of color, composition and painting techniques and also an expert in painting female nudity. His nude figures – which often refer to mythical beings – appear extremely lifelike, made from flesh and blood, with a fair amount of cellulite and with all kinds of body shapes visibly on display.

About Antwerp, the home of the Flemish Baroque movement.
Lonely Planet selected the best cities to visit in 2018 and included Antwerp in its top 10. According to the travel guide, Antwerp is one of Europe’s best kept secrets. And there is certainly plenty to see and do there in 2018. The “Antwerp Baroque 2018. Rubens inspires” festival shows you the finest places in Antwerp: www.antwerpbaroque2018.be