Censorship : Al Hirschfeld

from The Line King : The Al Hirschfeld Story (1996) Al Hirschfeld tells the story of cartoon censorship :

I remember doing a drawing of Harry Kurnitz play and it was a nude. The Times wouldn't run it unless I put a brasserie on her. So I put a brassiere on it and it ran in the Times with a brassiere and it ran in the Tribune without it. ... I think Life Magazine picked it up 

And they show an article titled "All the Nude That's Fit to Print" by George Spelvin  (George Spelvin is a traditional pseudonym used in programs in the American theater.) The play, Reclining Figure by Harry Kurnitz, is a satire of art collectors and dealers revolves around a counterfeit painting of a reclining nude. The Hirschfeld illustration was commissioned by the producers to accompany an ad of reviewer comments. The date on the clippings appears to be Monday Oct 11, 1954.

the original ad of risque cartoon nudity

The ad modified for the New York Times to add a bra and remove her navel. But still no hint of pants. A simple nude can be seen as classical or a study of the human form. A woman wearing a bra, suggesting a modern woman, but no pants I'd suggest that makes it more lewd.

As a bonus : the Renoir-esque painting from the play as found on AbeBooks :

The director of the the film, Susan Dryfoos, deserves credit for the title The Line King. That's great.  The DVD also included a bonus video of Hirschfeld drawing taken 6 years after the feature was released. Both were a pleasure to watch.