Art Studies 100 Years Ago Were as Daring as Today’s

What an interesting 1950s perspective on the history of nude photography! This short article from the 1953 Cheesecake Pinup magazine asserts that “by the 1850s, cheesecake was in good supply, with even comely Indian maidens from the Reservations posing happily”, and that nude and figure photography didn’t really start until the 1850s with the stereotype; but the original photos of Louis Daguerre in 1839 show a bas relief of a nude.

The accompanying pictures include 3 “unusual photos taken about 80 years ago” (i.e., sexy pictures from c. 1870). The full color photo is a realistic modern figure study by Jules Alexander, of a nude woman posed next to an electric fruit slicer.