Life, 1893-07-27 · page 7 of 16
Life — July 27, 1893 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis This satirical cartoon depicts an art studio scene mocking early 20th-century bohemian artistic pretensions. The dialogue reveals the joke: a woman has brought home a risqué painting of a nude female figure, claiming it's serious art from Paris. Her companion sarcastically asks why she didn't just paint nude models directly, suggesting the real motivation was "a choice between painting prettier girls with less clothing, or going without clothes myself." The satire targets two subjects: (1) artists who justify questionable work by invoking Paris as artistic authority, and (2) the transparent rationalization that nude modeling serves legitimate artistic purposes. The humor lies in exposing the gap between stated cultural aspirations and actual motivations.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“FOR A BAR ROOM! WHAT A SHAME! WHY, WHEN YOU CAME BACK FROM PARIS YOU SAID YOU WERE GOING TO PAINT RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS.” “IT DID, BUT NO ONE BOUGHT THEM, IT SOON CAME TO A CHOICE BETWEEN PAINTING PRETTIER GIRLS WITH LESS CLOTHING, OR GOING WITHOUT CLOTHES MYSELF.” comicbooks.com