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A perennial problem at the Academy was finding people who would pose nude for art classes. More often than not the models were men. Women models who would consent to pose in the nude were often lower class women whose bodies were heavy and often, literally broken by bad diets and labor. Eakins found it very hard to find beautiful young women who would take off their clothes and model for art students. One of the hazards of Eakins' scientific objectivity... was his utter frankness in dealing with the nude. It never bothered Eakins to disrobe in front of a female student in his studio. As Eakins champions the nude in art, and photographs his own naked students, he also clips newspaper stories that report on the outrage provoked by nudity in art throughout the country.
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KATHLEEN A. FOSTER, Ph.D.
Curator, Indiana University Art Museum
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