Nudity can be many things -- classical or pornographic, awkward or arousing, beautiful or shocking -- but in the current exhibition at the Proun Gallery, "Intimacy on Offer," it is best described as lighthearted.

The exhibition features works by renowned artist Jules Pascin along with 19th-century French erotic photography, a combination that proves to be both interesting and entertaining.

A banner showing a lady's lower half jutting out of a bright blue pond greets visitors at the gallery's entrance. Inside there are more large images of nudes, as a projector cycles through the exhibition's collection of photographs.

These are hung in a maze of blue and pink walls, interspersed with Pascin's works. Bouquets of plastic flowers and mannequins in vintage undergarments decorate the room.

"The kitschy paint and plastic flowers are not a reflection of my bad taste," said Yekaterina Inozemtseva, the exhibition's curator. "Their purpose is to somewhat soften the seriousness of Pascin's work ... and to give the exhibition as a whole a lighter tone," she said.

At first glance, Pascin's art seems to be in little need of lightening up: The subjects of his works include nine mad virgins, hermaphrodites "at play" and courtesans laughing at Socrates and his disciples.

But Pascin should not simply be perceived as an eccentric painter of dirty things, Inozemtseva said. "Pascin, much like Toulouse-Lautrec, is often remembered only for the prostitutes he painted, ... but he is one of the most important artists of the Ecole Parisienne," she said.

"His drawings are unique and of exceptional quality," she said. "His art is penetrating and intense."

Hemingway's tale, "With Pascin At the Dome," can be read on a plaque by the gallery's entrance. The extract paints a portrait of the Pascin many knew as the "Prince of Montparnasse" -- an artist surrounded by women, alcohol, and hangers-on.

But although Pascin might have been "the hero of Parisian nightlife," as Inozemtseva described him, his own life was far less bubbly than the champagne he shared with the many who craved his company.

"Like all great artists, Pascin was unsure of his own abilities," Inozemtseva said, "and after hearing that an exhibition of his work in New York had been given negative reviews, he slit his wrists, wrote the name of his life's love on the wall of his studio, and hung himself."

The photographs on display in the gallery do not have quite so grim a background. "Almost as soon as [Louis] Daguerre had patented his invention [for developing photographs], people began making and collecting photographs of nudes," Inozemtseva said.

They were used as an alternative to painting. "As a result, one can see variations on classical themes in many of the photographs," Inozemtseva said.

All the photographs are from Russian collections, but the Pascin works are on loan from his heirs in France, Inozemtseva said.

"Pascin is a true rarity in Russia."

"Intimacy on Offer" (Intim predlagayet) runs to Sept. 15 at the Proun Gallery at the Winzavod Center of Contemporary Art, located at 1 4th Syromyatnichesky Pereulok, Bldg 6. M. Chkalovskaya, Kurskaya. Tel. 916-0900, 917-4646. www.winzavod.ru.