UTOPIA
– a place where people lived in peace
and harmony.
Many
years have passed since I first discovered the secret of living a naturist
lifestyle and from that very moment it has been a never ending voyage. One which has taken me all over Europe and even
further afield, into and inside some amazing places - from simple comfort to
unbelievable luxury - within privately owned or members only clubs and similar organisations,
to huge holiday and leisure resorts.
In
the old days these were all very private places not easy to find and often protected
by unspoiled natural woodlands, with
lots of resident wildlife (and a few domestic ones too) where peaceful
relaxation in safe surroundings was absolutely guaranteed.
Things
began to change in the mid 1990’s when naturism became much more commercially orientated;
attracting people that soon introduced their own agenda into the traditional
way of life. But in spite of the constant calls for profit and financial gain, the
great majority of the old style of naturism still exist where the general
principles of peace and privacy still remain.
Upon
reflection, in many ways these wonderfully calming places always reminded me
very much of somewhere that I had read about years ago called UTOPIA.
In
my final years of schooling I read philosophy and remembered that it was
Plato who 2500 years ago first mooted the idea of a permanently
happy land, isolated from the outside world where people lived in peace and harmony. In
the sixteenth century, Thomas More took up the theme again in his book called Utopia
(a Greek word meaning a good place) in which he proposed a society with very
similar ideals. In 1933 the author James
Hilton in his book Lost Horizon wrote his own version - of a mystical earthly
paradise called Shangri La - a hidden place of refuge and peace isolated from
the outside world and in complete harmony with nature.
I was reminded of this idyllic theme quite recently when in the course of my studies into a piece of work which I called ‘ What is ART’ I came across the work of the Belgian artist Leon Henri Frederic.
Frederic, who was born in 1856 studied at the
Brussels Académie des Beaux-Arts and his work, often featuring simple pastoral
life became popular all over Europe. Whilst on holiday in the Ardennes
in 1883 Frederick discovered the isolated village of Nafraiture, an idyllic
place which eventually became his regular holiday retreat. “Away from the
‘corruption and frenetic nervous energy of the industrial revolution” as he later described it, this unspoiled
picturesque village became the inspiration for his spiritual, primitive style
of painting.
In
1901 Frederic painted his personal interpretation of Nafraiture as Utopia, in a
most beautiful triptych entitled The Golden Age. It was the left hand panel called “ The Morning “ which impressed me most, as just about the
nearest thing to the ideal of naturism that I had ever seen.
The Golden Age 1
In
this wonderfully natural picture, fresh faced maidens in various states of
undress went about their business as if in the general way of things nudity was
of no importance, while in the foreground a contented mother held her tiny baby
to her breast. Cows grazed in a nearby
meadow, birds sang in trees burdened with blossom, while children played without
a care in the world. Even the man on the
horse has not bothered with trousers.
Only when clothing was necessary
It
struck me then and it still does today, that the imaginary concepts of this
place called Utopia follows very similar ideals to those of naturism, even to
the degree of not bothering with clothing unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Naturism - A modern day Utopia
The idea of Utopia is nice in theory, but it’s doubtful
if such a place could really exist in the modern world any more than it could
in the old. But naturism - just about
nearest thing to it –can and does exist and unlike the residents of an
imaginary Utopia, as followers of this unique lifestyle we can step in and out
of it at will.
m.g.
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