and strongly inculcated the most ‘advanced’ views…teaching large classes of women as well as men, he holds that, both as to the living model in the drawing room and the dead subject in the anatomical lecture and dissecting room, Art knows no sex,” (Porter 23). Eakins taught many life drawing classes for both women and men, often receiving much criticism from the public. He wanted to give his students as much knowledge of the human body and anatomy as possible (McKinney 16). Around 1886, Eakins was teaching a women’s life drawing class and wished to show them the origin of a certain muscle in the male body—thus, he removed the loincloth from the posing male model. Afterwards, Eakins was confronted by the other directors of the Academy, due to their belief that exposing the female students to such immortality devastated their femininity, and asked to justify and apologize for his behavior. He refused to and was thus forced to resign from the Academy (Porter 22-23). However, after his resignation, many of Eakins’ pupils followed him (including women) to be instructed solely by him.The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, although not as customized for women as the Philadelphia School, had much influence over the formal education of women artists, especially in the area of life drawing. There are many famous women artists who were taught at and inspired by the Academy during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, such as Mary Cassatt and Cecilia Beaux (Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts).The nineteenth century brought many changes to the world of art for women. A formal education for future women artists finally became available, and many new opportunities for careers in art were unleashed. Two of the most prominent art schools that catered to female pupils are the Philadelphia School of Design for Women and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, which both still exist today. Th...
