Painting nudes, and in particular female nudes, has been a staple of the art world for centuries. Artists interpret the unclothed human form both as an exercise and as an end itself. But in recent years the artform has come in for increasing criticism for objectifying women. The debate is central to a new novel by Iowa writer Robert Schultz entitled "The Madhouse Nudes." On it's surface the novel is a who-dunnit about a painter in small-town Iowa who finds himself the chief suspect when one of his models is attacked. But Schultz told Minnesota Public Radio's Euan Kerr his book is really about the sensibilities of small towns, the art world, and the relationships between men and women.