19th-century American artist shared watercolour self-portrait with lover; internet calls it ‘the classiest nude…'

Before there were DMs or selfies, there were watercolour self-portraits, and an American artist boldly used one to send a sensual painting to her lover.

Nudes may seem like a contemporary Gen Z buzzword, made easier by the convenience of snapping a picture. But even before the age of DMs and selfies, people were finding rather creative ways to send nudes, all the way back in the 19th century when photography wasn't even mainstream or adopted completely in society.

Instagram page historycoolkids, which frequently shares interesting and even bizarre historical tidbits, shared a post on June 5 about the curious case of a watercolour nude, where an American artist in 1828 painted her own nudes and sent them to her lawyer.

Watercolour nudes

The artwork, titled Beauty Revealed, features the bare breasts of the artist Sarah Goodridge herself. She painted it in the year 1828, in a miniature format, and sent it to lawyer and politician Daniel Webster, who was a widower at the time. Given the small format of the artwork, it was only 6.7 by 8 cm, and it was meant only for private viewing for Daniel. In fact, he continued to visit Sarah Goodridge and paid for more of her paintings. Even after his marriage, he visited her twice. The painting was eventually found among his personal belongings and was later auctioned for $15,000. The relationship status, whether it was a secret affair or a fleeting fling, remains unclear and vague, but sending a risque watercolour self-portrait, and repeatedly over time, surely hinted at a certain level of intimacy between them, especially how Daniel kept it with him till the very end.

How did the internet react?

Given the classical route, the artwork, or the supposed nude, took with the delicate and hyperrealistic watercolour brushwork, one Instagram user wrote, “The classiest nude selfie I’ve ever seen 😂." While another pointed out their ambiguous relationship, comparing it with one of the popular relationship types nowadays. They called, “The original situationship.” Another pointed out, “Omg he kept it his whole life.”