"La Grande Odalisque" is an imperfect painting. Borne of a school of technical art that strongly believed in perfect anatomical representation, its painter, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres chose instead to emphasize beauty over perfection. He screwed up the anatomy to make a painting that he thought was better.

This got me to thinking about how comic art is filled with purposeful imperfection, how well that might work, and why it's not such a bad thing. In other words, are J. Scott Campbell's women "bad art" or just a series of conscious choices to create a specific look that amounts to his style? Is "perfect anatomy" the be all and end all of art? Should comic book artists not be judged so harshly on whether they get it "right"?

My review of "The Grande Odalisque" v1

Khan Academy lessons on the painting

A real human in the same pose for anatomical reference.

The Louvre's page dedicated to the painting.

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