This semester is the first semester in the history of NWACC that the model in the figure drawing class is nude. Working from the nude model has a long and documented tradition, probably going back longer, but mentioned and advocated for as far back as Leon Battisti Alberti's treatise On Painting in 1435. Therefore, working from the nude model in drawing and painting classes is part of a larger and longer tradition, helps students to see the ENTIRE figure from the inside/out (much like a physician studies anatomy), and adds a deeper sophistication and understanding of the body and empathy with the model. Most importantly, it is STANDARD and established practice to work from the nude in most higher ed institutions in the West.
Congratulations, Art Department! Good job, Margaret Correll, the instructor teaching this class!:
Royal Academy, life drawing class, C. W. Cope (late 1800s)
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