{"id":350417,"date":"2026-06-25T20:24:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T20:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/350417\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T20:24:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T20:24:14","slug":"the-nude-painting-that-scandalized-fort-worth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/350417\/","title":{"rendered":"The Nude Painting That Scandalized Fort Worth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Now hanging at Schoelkopf Gallery in New York is a sensual nude, created by American painter Ben Johnson in 1957. In it, a female figure reclines languidly, her pale form in contrast to a series of bright color fields aligned along her spine. There\u2019s a curvilinear rhythm to the composition\u2014the color bands pulsing around the subject\u2019s cream-toned silhouette, accented by the backdrop of blazing pink and magenta. It\u2019s a heightened yet intimate scene.<\/p>\n

When the canvas was exhibited in Texas in 1959, however, the good people of Fort Worth had rather different opinions about the work by Johnson, best known for his large-scale nudes. It was regarded as \u201cindecent\u201d and an \u201couthouse etching,\u201d its exhibition deemed \u201cirresponsible\u201d and \u201csick.\u201d The outrage was such that the Ministers\u2019 Association weighed in, calling the picture \u201coffensive to the religious morals of the people of our city\u201d and demanding its removal from display.<\/p>\n

That storm now feels like a distant memory as the painting quietly resurfaces at Schoelkopf as part of an exhibition drawn from the collection of late artist and gallerist Robert A. Ellison Jr. A Texas native, Ellison moved to New York in the early 1950s, where he fell in with the Abstract Expressionists. Though a painter himself, his support for his peers would see him amass a formidable collection of Modern and postwar art (as well as hundreds of ceramics he donated<\/a> to the Metropolitan Museum of Art).\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Gallery<\/p>\n

Installation view of \u201cNew York City Circa 1960: Works from the Collection of Robert A. Ellison, Jr.\u201d at Schoelkopf Gallery. Photo courtesy of Schoelkopf Gallery.<\/p>\n

A selection of that trove has now been brought back into the light by gallerist Andrew Schoelkopf, whose father was a close friend of Ellison\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cBob was an incredibly intelligent person, very creative, very inquisitive. He was really interested in a wide variety of things, in addition to being a painter,\u201d Schoelkopf told me during a visit to the exhibition. \u201cHe was a dear friend of virtually all these artists. Just about everything in the show was bought directly from the artists.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Abstract<\/p>\n

Elaine De Kooning, Portrait of Conrad (1955). Courtesy Schoelkopf Gallery. \u00a9 Estate of Elaine de Kooning.<\/p>\n

Among the pieces featured at \u201cNew York City Circa 1960: Works from the Collection of Robert A. Ellison, Jr.<\/a>\u201d are Milton Resnick\u2018s early abstractions, Pat Passlof\u2019s dense compositions, a clutch of serene nudes by Robert De Niro, Sr., and a vigorous portrait by Elaine de Kooning<\/a>. According to Schoelkopf, none of the works have been exhibited since the 1960s.<\/p>\n

One corner of the space is dedicated to ephemera from Ellison Gallery, which the collector established with his then-wife Nancy on the ground floor of his family\u2019s furniture store in Fort Worth after returning to the city in 1959. His support of these artists\u2014who also include Jay Wilder, Wolf Kahn, and Robert Beauchamp\u2014is immortalized in pamphlets, clippings, correspondence, and photographs.<\/p>\n

\"Abstract<\/p>\n

Milton Resnick, Witness (1959). Courtesy Schoelkopf Gallery. \u00a9 The Milton Resnick and Pat Passlof Foundation.<\/p>\n

But among the works on view, it\u2019s Johnson\u2019s Nude that boasts the most colorful back story, sparked by its presentation at the Ellison Gallery. It was on view as part of a solo show of 13 of Johnson\u2019s paintings\u2014except Ellison opted to display this particular composition prominently in the front window, as some sort of provocation. The Fort Worth Art Association, after all, had declined to exhibit this work the year prior. \u201cI\u2019ll make a protest for aesthetic freedom,\u201d the gallerist decided.<\/p>\n

His bold showcase, unmissable on a bustling downtown street, was accompanied by a sign that read: \u201cThis painting was rejected by the Forth Worth Art Assn. as being \u2018vulgar.\u2019 What do you think? Come in!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Display<\/p>\n

Installation view of \u201cNew York City Circa 1960: Works from the Collection of Robert A. Ellison, Jr.\u201d at Schoelkopf Gallery. Photo courtesy of Schoelkopf Gallery.<\/p>\n

The opinions came rushing in. Outlets from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram to the El Paso Herald-Post followed the brewing controversy breathlessly, while messages poured in from the public. The condemnations were to be expected\u2014the era held \u201cdifferent beliefs and understandings of artworks,\u201d as Schoelkopf put it. More incredible were the letters of support, particularly after the rebuke by the Ministers\u2019 Association.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat amazes me is that a businessman in this town would get up the courage, alone, to do what you did,\u201d wrote one Charles Murphy. \u201cMy congratulations to you, for a boost to the rear of hypocrisy,\u201d went another letter. And most gleefully, from Buddy Reeves: \u201cI have not seen this very controversial picture in question and hadn\u2019t thought that I wanted to, but now I feel that I must see it. Maybe it will corrupt my morals, if any. What a truly delightful thought!\u201d<\/p>\n

Alas, the missive from the church leaders proved the final blow. After four days, Johnson\u2019s painting was removed from the window of the gallery. The scandal, however, had turned the artist into a minor celebrity. By December 1959, he had a painting hanging in the Fort Worth Art Center. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Johnson\u2019s attendance at the museum where he announced, \u201cWe are here to defend the faith.\u201d He would continue to exhibit in New York and Chicago before his death in 1967.<\/p>\n

\"Gallery<\/p>\n

Installation view of \u201cNew York City Circa 1960: Works from the Collection of Robert A. Ellison, Jr.\u201d at Schoelkopf Gallery. Photo courtesy of Schoelkopf Gallery.<\/p>\n

Ellison himself, of course, can claim to be another such stalwart defender. As he telegrammed to Johnson in the wake of the outcry: \u201cAm shocked that someone in Texas considers themselves as superior in judgement to the loving father of us all who created man and woman without clothes.\u201d He may have ultimately taken down the painting, but his point, it seems, had been made.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have aired our protest for aesthetic freedom which is our only sincere intention,\u201d a statement from the Ellison Gallery read. \u201cWe have nothing in conflict with religious scruples, but never let it be said that the minority should not have spoken.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNew York City Circa 1960: Works from the Collection of Robert A. Ellison, Jr.<\/a>\u201d is on view at Schoelkopf Gallery, 390 Broadway 3rd floor, New York, through July 2.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Now hanging at Schoelkopf Gallery in New York is a sensual nude, created by American painter Ben Johnson…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":350418,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[124863,124862,10393,111227,7916,116,124861,118,117,124859,124858,124857,124860,124856],"class_list":["post-350417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-art-history","tag-artnet-news","tag-ben-johnson","tag-elaine-de-kooning","tag-exhibitions","tag-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth-art-center","tag-fort-worth-headlines","tag-fort-worth-news","tag-milton-resnick","tag-pat-passlof","tag-robert-a-ellison-jr","tag-robert-de-niro-sr","tag-schoelkopf-gallery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=350417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350417\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/350418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=350417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=350417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}