Naturism laid bare… Family-oriented, utopian, dancing, anarchist, hygienist, the movement is one of the most eclectic, especially in France, which is said to be the world’s leading tourist destination for its followers. This is an excellent pretext for the exhibition dedicated to it this summer, and until the beginning of December, at the Mucem in Marseille. Where we learn, through a multitude of bodies in the garb of Adam and Eve, that naturism nourishes many other dreams than putting oneself in the simplest of attire. From Cap d’Agde, on the Mediterranean coast, to Physiopolis, near Paris, formerly “naturist island” self-proclaimed, a veritable nebula of nudity aficionados is emerging.
The roots of the movement date back to the beginning of the 20th century.e century. Industrialization, pollution, urbanization: some original minds rebel and advocate a return to a state of nature considered ideal. Germany, but also German-speaking countries, such as Austria and Switzerland, are seduced by the concept of Life reform. A desire for “reform life” which leads some activists to create libertarian communities, carried by the Nudity culture.
This “culture of nudity” sings the pleasures of a free body, which reconnects with a forgotten Eden. Pioneers of the movement, the artistic avant-gardes, expressionists at the forefront. On the heights of Ascona, in Switzerland, Monte Verita is one of the first of these paradises rediscovered. During the first three decades of the 20th centurye century, it attracted bankers and bourgeois who had broken ranks, but also dancers and painters.
Hygienic Utopia
The trend soon spread to France, first to enclosed spaces, islands or private castles. “What is interesting about the history of naturism in France is that it was built between the two wars, in a country where nudity was marked by shame and censorship, unlike Germany,” says Amélie Lavin, co-curator of the exhibition with, among others, the philosopher Bernard Andrieu and Jean-Pierre Blanc, director of the Villa Noailles, in Hyères (Var).
The medical profession is not left out. Many French naturist doctors call for the unveiling of bodies, celebrating the health benefits of air baths, heliotherapy sessions, and herbal treatments. No meat, no alcohol, gym galore: nudism is only one component of this hygienic utopia.
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Under the sun, the naturist community grew. From Jacques-Henri Lartigue to Man Ray, it attracted photographers who wanted to take the nude out of its academicism. In the 1950s, the practice became popular. Surrounded by three seas and with its temperate climate, France became a paradise. The French Naturist Federation structured the most proselytizing, and Sun Clubs were born, from the Sparta-Club in Chambourcy (Yvelines) to the Centre héliomarin in Montalivet (Gironde). All of them took the island of Levant, off the coast of Hyères, as their model.
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