When it comes to art models, if there's a naked body in the image, it usually draws focus. When it comes to vintage shots of art models however, my interest was with the artists. As many stories as a naked body can tell, a clothed one can often tell more.
It is fascinating to see how well dressed the art class attendees were in days gone past. Jackets and vests, dresses with full collars. I imagine these classes were the social event of the week requiring artists to wear their finest outfit to draw, paint or sculpt someone in no outfit at all.
The naked human body has been in the inspiration for art going back to early Greek and Roman sculpture. There was a decline during the dark ages when artists were threatened with death for partaking in what were at those time, devil painting parties.
Thankfully, Renaissance artists brought it back, creating many of the classic nudes we still study today. There was another dip during the puritan period, but in most parts of the world, (still slow to change in the US), the naked human body is at the core of many art forms.
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