Artists and models in the frames of the legendary LIFE magazine

In the workshops of painters or sculptors, in addition to the creators themselves and various accessories for creating works of art, there are often models.

This collection is dedicated to the process of working on a work of art: creating a sculpture, painting, sketch. It is dedicated to the artist and the human body, which has been a source of inspiration for centuries.

American artist Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008) and his model, 1951. The most famous of all his works were those that combined elements of painting and sculpture and were created in the 1950s. (Wallace Kirkland)

A group of students from the Farnsworth Art School paints a picture from nature, 1946. (Andreas Feininger)

American artist Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975) works on the painting "Persephone" (also known as "The Rape of Persephone") in his studio in Kansas City, Missouri, 1939. The model is one of his students, a student at the Kansas City Art Institute. El Greco had a strong influence on the works of Benton, an adherent of regionalism. (Alfred Eisenstaedt)

Thomas Hart Benton) is working on the painting "Persephone". In the late 1930s, he published an autobiographical book, which was highly appreciated by the Nobel Prize-winning novelist Sinclair Lewis: "Here is a rare phenomenon - an artist who can write." (Alfred Eisenstaedt)

Students of the Skowhigen Art School, Maine, make a sketch from nature, 1948. As the poet William Blake said, "art cannot exist without naked beauty." (Eliot Elisofon)

Jean Negulesco (1900-1993) paints a portrait of a model in a studio in Hollywood. Today he is known as the author of the scripts of famous films of the 1940s and 1960s, but his first love and love for life was painting. (Jerry Cooke)

Moses Sawyer (1899-1974) works in a studio in Greenwich Village, 1960. Born in Russia and raised in the Bronx, Sawyer adhered to realism all his life, rejecting newfangled trends. (Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)

David Fredenthal (1914-1958) draws a sketch, 1948. (Gjon Mili)

German surrealist Fabius von Gugel (1910-2000) in Rome. (Jack Birns)

Model Doris Fisher on a smoke break during classes at the art school in Oak Bow, Michigan, 1946. (Loomis Dean)

An artist draws a poster for the film "Maha Nude", 1958. (Bill Bridges)

Sculptor Chaim Gross (1904-1991) in the studio, 1942. He was born in Austria, and in 1921 moved to the USA and became one of the most famous wood carvers. (Eliot Elisofon—Time Life Pictures/Getty Images) 

Artists paint from nature, California, 1959. (J. R. Eyerman)

A model against a background of cacti and an arthritic artist, 1948. (Alfred Eisenstaedt)

Students of the Skowhigen Art School, Maine, make a sketch from nature, 1948. (Gjon Mili) 

Sculptor Chaim Gross makes a sketch, 1942. (Eliot Elisofon)

Nude woman posing for artist Fletcher Martin, 1940. (Peter Stackpole)

Self-portrait by Italian artist Giorgio de Chirico (1888-1978). Critic Robert Hughes wrote about him: "It's no secret that de Chirico was a poet, and a great poet." Hughes did not write a word about the paintings.

Henri Matisse (1869-1954) sculpts a naked woman lying in bed in his apartment, 1951. (Dmitri Kessel)