I'm going to exploit one of my thesis readings here- a reading chosen for an entirely different topic- to blog about something else. (Notice my complete disregard for proper citation here. Screw it.) But what I will tell you is that this is a picture of a life drawing class at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1905. A hundred years later, the nude female wouldn't be the model; she'd be the performance artist. Art school now and then. Wow.
You've come a long way, baby.