The portrayal of the human figure has gone through numerous transformations over the last few thousand years. Just by taking a stroll through a museum, leafing through an art history textbook, or searching the Internet, you can witness firsthand the incredible variety of such depictions.

Moreover, most people are still captivated by the realistically depicted figures of Greco-Roman art, the Renaissance, the Baroque and Neoclassical periods, nineteenth-century academic art, and the revival of classical realism in the late twentieth century. Training for budding artists of the past included artistic anatomy as a required discipline, enabling them to fully comprehend what goes on beneath the skin and to portray the human figure in a convincing manner. But by the early twentieth century, classical realism had lost its footing. A new generation of artists had grown tired of the traditional manner of creating art and chose to investigate new and different approaches.

As always, however, the pendulum swings back. Some artists nowadays have an insatiable desire to reinvestigate the traditional aspects of figurative art. This new surge of interest can be gauged by the many classical ateliers sprouting up in various parts of North America and Europe, and by the fact that some art schools and art departments are again offering artistic anatomy as part of their curriculum. 

Galleries and museums are exhibiting contemporary classical figurative artists more frequently, and the digital film and gaming industries are creating demand for artists who possess the anatomical knowledge needed to create computer-animated figures. Once again, anatomy has become an essential part of an artist’s training.