 While some nudes by foreign artists were held in private English collections , the country had no tradition of nude painting and the display and distribution of nude material to the public had been suppressed since the 1787 Proclamation for the Discouragement of Vice . Etty was the first British artist to specialise in the nude , and the reaction of the lower classes to these paintings caused concern throughout the 19th century . Many critics condemned his repeated depictions of female nudity as indecent , although his portraits of male nudes were generally well received . 
