From the exhibition
Study of Reclining Nude Figure
Louis Schaettle, American, 1867–1917 · c. 1900

Louis Schaettle's ink drawing demonstrates the academic figure study practices central to American illustration training in the early twentieth century. The confident line work and anatomical attention reflect rigorous studio methods that shaped the visual language of newspaper comic strips emerging during this era. Such foundational life drawing informed the gestural economy and character construction that would define the medium as it developed through the Sunday pages and daily strips.
Public domain, restored and presented by comicbooks.com CC0