ART

Two young women who posed for paintings shown in China’s first major art exhibit of nudes have hired lawyers and threatened to sue the exhibit’s sponsors because they failed to ask permission before “exposing the models’ secrets.” Beijing newspapers on Thursday quoted the unidentified models as saying that since the exhibit opened Dec. 22 at the China Art Gallery in the capital, their husbands have thrown them out of their homes and asked for divorces. The Legal Daily News reported that the models are asking for an apology and for financial compensation. The exhibit of nearly 140 paintings of nudes, ranging from portraits to abstracts, has drawn record crowds expected to surpass a total of 150,000 before it closes next week. The exhibit charged an unusually high admission price of 2 yuan (53 cents); the models were paid 2.10 yuan (57 cents) per hour for posing.