Two paintings; both are portraits of women dressed in pink against a dark background. Each woman is displayed in a private moment of vulnerability, but each painting tells a very different story. Walt Kuhn's The Chorus Captain and Thomas Eakins' The Picture of Maud Cook each portray a very different image of femininity, femininity, and beauty. Each of these artists, through the use of photography and nude models and through the promotion of modern art as a marketable product, helped to challenge and change the art world's views. The Chorus Captain by Walt Kuhn is a three-quarter portrait done in oils on canvas. It was painted in 1935. The work depicts a scantily clad showgirl still in costume. He sits in front of a faded black backdrop, curtain or wall in an aged theater. A large headdress of pink feathers fans out above her head, larger than the woman herself. She wears pearls on her head and neck and her makeup is thick and eye-catching with bright red lipstick and lipstick that reaches up to her temples. Her makeup can't cover the fact that she's exhausted. His eyes are dark and heavy-lidded. His posture is slumped; he had a tiring day or, perhaps, a tiring life. He appears indifferent to his partial nudity and indifferent to the artist or the viewer. Why not; it's been watched by too many people to care about it anymore. It is brightly lit as if by a large spotlight, fitting for a subject who has spent so much time on stage. Despite being exposed and on display, the woman is completely withdrawn in this moment, staring into space as if in deep thought. By exposing his physical being so completely, the painting emphasizes what the viewer cannot see; the subjects inner life and psyche. The title states that...... middle of paper ......artists to whom the art world, particularly the American art world, owes much gratitude. Works Cited Adams, Henry. Eakins Reveals: The Secret Life of an American Artist. Oxford [England: Oxford UP, 2005. Print.Adams, Philip Rhys. Walt Kuhn, Painter: His Life and Work. Columbus: Ohio State UP, 1978. Print.Homer, William Innes. Thomas Eakins: His Life and Art. New York: Abbeville, 2002. Print. Peltakian, Dannielle. "WALT KUHN (1877-1949) - AMERICAN MODERNIST." Sullivan Goss - An American Gallery / Arts & Letters Cafe. Network. April 16, 2011. "Thomas Eakins - Scenes of Modern Life: | PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Network. April 16, 2011. .Werbel, Amy Beth. Thomas Eakins: Art, Medicine, and Sexuality in Nineteenth-Century Philadelphia. New Haven: Yale UP, 2007. Print.