Paul Cadmus American, 1904-1999

Paul Cadmus is best known for his erotic depictions of nude male figures, charged with satire, social criticism, and a strongly idealized sexuality. Cadmus first gained recognition for his 1934 painting The Fleet's In, where the controversy of a group of sailors he pictured carousing among prostitutes and homosexuals inspired a public outcry. His work is informed by themes of Surrealism, compositions of the Renaissance, the Neoclassical works of Jean-Auguste Domingue Ingres, and the sharp, figurative verisimilitude of Magical Realism; however, Cadmus's greatest influence was from fellow painter Jared French, with whom he studied and traveled extensively. French instilled within Cadmus the traditions of the Old Masters (such as an egg tempera technique that became an integral part of his process) and, furthermore, a drive to transcend these methods and define his own artistic legacy.