Bela Czobel, Sitting Model 

Bela Czobel made this charcoal drawing, Sitting Model, sometime during his career. It's a quick sketch, capturing a model from the back, arms crossed, head turned away. Drawings like this one served a vital function in the academic system that formed artists for centuries. Students honed their skills by drawing from life, studying the human form in minute detail. But academic art was always caught in a bind. On the one hand, it was meant to elevate and ennoble, to create idealized images. On the other hand, the nude model introduced the potential for visual pleasure. The artist was always walking a line between the pursuit of knowledge and the sin of lust. If we want to understand the role of the artist in society, and the complex politics of imagery, we have to look at the institutions and traditions that shaped their work. We might start by exploring the historical role of art academies.