Worse Than Nude

The Chicago art dealer who first showed Frenchman Paul Chabas' September Morn (in 1913) was arrested. According to Police Sergeant Jeremiah O'Connor, the chilly nude in wading was "indacent and ought to be in the Art Institute." Instead, it wound up on calendars and candy boxes.

Last week a better, bolder painting caused a stir on Manhattan's 57th Street. Belgian Paul Delvaux' Temptation of St. Anthony--painted for a Hollywood competition (TIME, Mar. 25)--was drawing tiptoe crowds to the Knoedler Galleries.

Word had gone out that Delvaux' Temptation, featuring three pink ladies, had barely squeezed past U.S. customs officials. Moreover, the painting could not be reproduced in full. By Postoffice standards, the fact that the ladies were painted with pubic hair placed an undue emphasis on their nakedness. Conservative Knoedler's tucked the shocker away in an upstairs corner (see cut).

Downstairs hung less tempting Temptations. Max Ernst's prizewinning entry showed the Saint racked by nightmare creatures who appeared to be devouring his loins. But the real shocker was Ivan Le Lorraine Albright's painting of grey, semi-decayed women, swathed in nibbling things and fishnets.

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