The Astonishing Life of Nude Models, Heirs to an Artistic Tradition in Decline
Every day, several hundred models strip naked in front of an audience of illustrators, in exchange for payment. This century-old profession has been neglected since the art world switched preferences from abstraction to figurative art.
When she was a student, Marie-Laure couldn't count on her parents' financial support, so she worked a succession of 'side gigs.' Her most traumatic memory is street canvassing in Paris' Place d'Italie, asking them to try out different brands of food products. "You had to have the gift of gab, and I don't at all. It was awful."
In search of a more comfortable situation, she decided to listen to a drawing teacher who had seen 'a Renoir painting' in her curvy figure, and agreed to become a live model for compensation. The principle was simple: undress and offer her naked body to an assembly of drawers, varying the poses. For Marie-Laure's mother, a rather traditional, 'uptight' type, it was a real tragedy. 'She thought it was disgusting, whereas for my father, it looked like a lot of fun,' she recalls. Even today, her family imagines her lying in an armchair, staring at the ceiling for hours on end.
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In reality, the supposedly bohemian life of Marie-Laure, 48, involves five hours a day in public…
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