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Bostons Museum of Fine Arts is stuck in a stalemate withInstagram after photos from its latest exhibitiona survey of decorous abstracted nudes by Imogen Cunninghamwere censored by the image-sharing app, and the museums pleas to have its artwork allowed on social media have gone unheard.

We [contacted both Facebook and Instagram] and said were a verified fine arts museum, and we wanted to have a discussion with Facebook and Instagram about their community standards, MFA public relations director Karen Frascona told the Boston Globe. We didnt really get a response.

The posts in question are pictures of artworks from Imogen Cunningham: In Focus. Some of herphotographs feature modernist takes on thenude body, while a photograph by Judy Dater features Cunninghamwith a nakedfemale model.

Imogen Cunningham, Sunbath (Alta on the Beach) 1925/2011 The Imogen Cunningham Trust. Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

These images are so subtle and beautiful and so abstract,said MFA photography curator Karen Haas. Theyre all about shapesabout turning the body into something thats really confounding and difficult even to read as a body.

Facebook and Instagram maintain that their nudity restrictions are intended to prevent uncomfortable experiences for all their users.

Instagrams community guidelines read, We know that there are times when people might want to share nude images that are artistic or creative in nature, but for a variety of reasons, we dont allow nudity on Instagram.

While said guidelines statethat nudity in photos of paintings and sculptures is OK, artworks depicting nudity have been banned in the past, and there is no clause about photographic artworks.

Were hoping to gather a consensus and then approach Facebook and Instagram about incorporating photography into their exceptions, Frascona said.

That were still fighting the fight for photography to be a work of art is [incredible],Haas added.

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MFA Boston Is Latest Museum Driven Crazy by Instagram ... - artnet News