8. Gustave Courbet – The Origin of the World
Gustave Courbet’s painting ‘The Origin of the World’ hangs on the wall of the The Musée Orsay in Paris, and is a graphic painting to say the least. It is a painting that portrays a woman’s thighs, torso, and, at the centre of attention, her unshaven genitals. The almost anatomical description of female sex organs is not attenuated by any historical or literary device. This painting was in no doubt privately commissioned by a specialist collector and is by far one of the most graphic depictions of the female anatomy ever painted.