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Paul Cadmus: The Male Nude

Paul Cadmus: The Male Nude -  - Viewing Room - DC Moore Gallery Viewing Room

Y.M.C.A. Locker Room, 1933
Oil on canvas, 19 3/8 x 39 ¼ inches
Private Collection

DC Moore Gallery is pleased to present Paul Cadmus: The Male Nude, opening February 8th and continuing through March 16th, 2024. This is the first major solo exhibition of this important 20th century artist in over 20 years, and one of the only ones to highlight Cadmus’s highly finished male nude drawings. Nine rarely exhibited paintings will be on view in this exhibition, placing these intimate drawings in context and opening a conversation between these two sides of Cadmus’s practice. 

Paul Cadmus: The Male Nude -  - Viewing Room - DC Moore Gallery Viewing Room

The Nap, 1952
Egg tempera on pressed wood panel
22 1/2 x 25 1/4 inches
Collection of The Tobin Theatre Arts Fund 22.2007
Courtesy of the McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas

The iconic 1933 painting Y.M.C.A. Locker Room, not seen publicly in many decades, will be on view in this exhibition. A formal Renaissance composition is juxtaposed with the mundane yet homoerotic setting of a changing room, with statuesque, half-dressed male figures animated through the meetings of limbs and gazes. The Shower (1943), a sultry Fire Island painting, explores the dynamic between Paul Cadmus and his long-time lover, painter Jared French, and Jared’s new wife–– and Cadmus’s friend–– Margaret French. The painting Manikins (1951) shows two artist’s figurines resting on William Shakespeare’s Sonnets and a copy of André Gide’s early 20th century book Corydon, which argues that homosexuality is not unnatural and was fundamental to civilizations throughout history. The Nap (1952), a languid painting of a solitary nude figure, suggests loneliness and longing.

Paul Cadmus: The Male Nude -  - Viewing Room - DC Moore Gallery Viewing Room

SHAME!, 1992
Egg tempera on panel, 34 x 11 1/8 inches
Private Collection

SHAME! (1992) is perhaps a fitting painting to show within this exhibition of male nudes, as it was inspired by Cadmus' indignation at reading an outraged letter to the editor about a magazine's reproduction of Masaccio's recently restored Expulsion of Adam and Eve. The scandalized reader called this reproduction pornography because of the depiction of nudity. Cadmus wrote, “Perhaps SHAME! Should be dedicated to the writer of that letter for giving us such a profound definition of the word PORNOGRAPHY: a naked man and woman.”

Paul Cadmus: The Male Nude -  - Viewing Room - DC Moore Gallery Viewing Room
Paul Cadmus: The Male Nude -  - Viewing Room - DC Moore Gallery Viewing Room

Jared French
Paul Cadmus, c. 1929-1930
Pencil and watercolor on paper
12 3/4 x 6 3/8 inches

Paul Cadmus (1904-1999) was born in New York to artist parents in 1904. A precocious artist, he won many awards and scholarships in his early years while studying at the National Academy of Design. In 1931, he left New York to travel Europe with the painter, and his lover, Jared French. They bicycled throughout Europe, seeking out churches and museums to see the art they admired firsthand. During this time, and an extended stay in Mallorca, Cadmus created drawings and some of his first satirical paintings, Y.M.C.A Locker Room and Shore Leave. When Cadmus returned to New York in 1933, he enrolled in the New Deal’s Public Works of Art Project. His irreverent painting The Fleet’s In! (1934) depicting debauched sailors on the west side of Manhattan, stirred up a controversy when the painting was ejected from a PWAP exhibition in Washington, DC. The ensuing scandal propelled his career and gave him national notoriety. His paintings from this period were painstakingly conceived with great detail, ambition, and biting wit.

Paul Cadmus: The Male Nude -  - Viewing Room - DC Moore Gallery Viewing Room

Male Nude NM51, 1966
Crayon on hand toned paper
15 1/4 x 19 1/2 inches
Private Collection

In 1940, he began painting with egg tempera, an early Renaissance medium which instilled a luminousness to his work. These paintings were slow to complete, however. When Cadmus passed away in 1999, he had only created only about 135 paintings over a 75-year career. Over the years, Cadmus’s love of drawing was steady. In the earlier years, many of his drawings were studies for paintings, but by the 1940s, he created drawings as finished works of art. On hand-toned paper, Cadmus would use the same fine cross hatching technique of his egg tempera paintings to create volume and form. He used crayon, chalks, colored inks, and even egg tempera to create the sensation of life emanating from the figure. He drew his friends and his lovers from life, celebrating the beauty of the male form and by extension, love between men, through the intimate act of drawing.

Paul Cadmus: The Male Nude -  - Viewing Room - DC Moore Gallery Viewing Room

In 1965, Cadmus met Jon Anderson, who became his life partner and the subject of his most beautiful drawings. These drawings comprise the NM series–– for “Nantucket Man,” affectionately indicating where the two first met. Cadmus continued to draw Anderson for the remaining 34 years of his life. 

In the later years of his life, Paul Cadmus became a quiet icon and daring example of integrity to artists and to people who found refuge in his powerful, sensual expressions of male beauty and queer desire. In a 1998 interview Cadmus said to Justin Spring, “I have never thought of [my drawings and paintings] as political acts, … And I never think of them as aiming to add to public consciousness, but maybe they have. In certain cases–– particularly in reproduction in books, I think–– they help people who are far from cultural climates like New York… It helps them feel they are not alone.” Cadmus continues to be celebrated as a pioneer, whose taboo-breaking work has inspired generations of artists.

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Study for the Bath, c. 1951 Crayon on paper 18 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches

Study for the Bath, c. 1951
Crayon on paper
18 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches

A.J. Yow, c. 1953 Crayon on paper 9 5/8 x 6 5/8 inches

A.J. Yow, c. 1953
Crayon on paper
9 5/8 x 6 5/8 inches

Male Nude, 1950s Crayon and gouache on paper 11 x 7 7/8 inches

Male Nude, 1950s
Crayon and gouache on paper
11 x 7 7/8 inches

Preliminary Study for Dancer at Piano #2, 1966
Crayon and pastel on paper
25 x 19 inches
 

Preliminary Study for Dancer at Piano #2, 1966
Crayon and pastel on paper
25 x 19 inches
 

Male Nude NM31a, 1966. Crayon on paper, 12 1/2 x 16 inches

Male Nude 31a, 1966
Crayon on paper
12 1/2 x 16 inches
 

Male Nude NM49, 1967 Crayon on blue/gray paper 17 3/4 x 10 1/4 inches

Male Nude NM49, 1967
Crayon on blue/gray paper
17 3/4 x 10 1/4 inches
 

Seated Nude JS35, n.d. Crayon on brick red Fabriano paper 13 x 8 1/8 inches

Seated Nude JS35, n.d.
Crayon on brick red Fabriano paper
13 x 8 1/8 inches

Study for David and Goliath #1, 1971 Pencil on vellum 14 1/4 x 14 1/4 inches

Study for David and Goliath #1, 1971
Pencil on vellum
14 1/4 x 14 1/4 inches

Preliminary Study for Winter #C, 1977 Crayon on paper  12 3/8 x 13 7/8 inches

Preliminary Study for Winter #C, 1977
Crayon on paper  
12 3/8 x 13 7/8 inches

Male Nude NM159, c. 1979 Crayon on hand toned paper 15 1/4 x 11 3/4 inches

Male Nude NM159, c. 1979
Crayon on hand toned paper
15 1/4 x 11 3/4 inches
 

Study for Model and Artist #b, 1993 Pencil on vellum 23 3/4 x 15 3/4 inches

Study for Model and Artist #b, 1993
Pencil on vellum
23 3/4 x 15 3/4 inches

Study for Book Buff #b, 1994 Pencil on vellum 23 x 16 3/4 inches

Study for Book Buff #b, 1994
Pencil on vellum
23 x 16 3/4 inches

Nudo #2, 1984 Etching 9 x 8 1/2 inches Edition of 100

Nudo #2, 1984
Etching
9 x 8 1/2 inches
Edition of 100

Nudo #3, 1984 Etching 9 x 8 1/2 inches Edition of 100

Nudo #3, 1984
Etching
9 x 8 1/2 inches
Edition of 100

Nudo #1, 1984 Etching 9 x 8 1/2 inches Edition of 100

Nudo #1, 1984
Etching
9 x 8 1/2 inches
Edition of 100

Study for the Bath, c. 1951 Crayon on paper 18 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches

Study for the Bath, c. 1951
Crayon on paper
18 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches

A.J. Yow, c. 1953 Crayon on paper 9 5/8 x 6 5/8 inches

A.J. Yow, c. 1953
Crayon on paper
9 5/8 x 6 5/8 inches

Male Nude, 1950s Crayon and gouache on paper 11 x 7 7/8 inches

Male Nude, 1950s
Crayon and gouache on paper
11 x 7 7/8 inches

Preliminary Study for Dancer at Piano #2, 1966
Crayon and pastel on paper
25 x 19 inches
 

Preliminary Study for Dancer at Piano #2, 1966
Crayon and pastel on paper
25 x 19 inches
 

Male Nude NM31a, 1966. Crayon on paper, 12 1/2 x 16 inches

Male Nude 31a, 1966
Crayon on paper
12 1/2 x 16 inches
 

Male Nude NM49, 1967 Crayon on blue/gray paper 17 3/4 x 10 1/4 inches

Male Nude NM49, 1967
Crayon on blue/gray paper
17 3/4 x 10 1/4 inches
 

Seated Nude JS35, n.d. Crayon on brick red Fabriano paper 13 x 8 1/8 inches

Seated Nude JS35, n.d.
Crayon on brick red Fabriano paper
13 x 8 1/8 inches

Study for David and Goliath #1, 1971 Pencil on vellum 14 1/4 x 14 1/4 inches

Study for David and Goliath #1, 1971
Pencil on vellum
14 1/4 x 14 1/4 inches

Preliminary Study for Winter #C, 1977 Crayon on paper  12 3/8 x 13 7/8 inches

Preliminary Study for Winter #C, 1977
Crayon on paper  
12 3/8 x 13 7/8 inches

Male Nude NM159, c. 1979 Crayon on hand toned paper 15 1/4 x 11 3/4 inches

Male Nude NM159, c. 1979
Crayon on hand toned paper
15 1/4 x 11 3/4 inches
 

Study for Model and Artist #b, 1993 Pencil on vellum 23 3/4 x 15 3/4 inches

Study for Model and Artist #b, 1993
Pencil on vellum
23 3/4 x 15 3/4 inches

Study for Book Buff #b, 1994 Pencil on vellum 23 x 16 3/4 inches

Study for Book Buff #b, 1994
Pencil on vellum
23 x 16 3/4 inches

Nudo #2, 1984 Etching 9 x 8 1/2 inches Edition of 100

Nudo #2, 1984
Etching
9 x 8 1/2 inches
Edition of 100

Nudo #3, 1984 Etching 9 x 8 1/2 inches Edition of 100

Nudo #3, 1984
Etching
9 x 8 1/2 inches
Edition of 100

Nudo #1, 1984 Etching 9 x 8 1/2 inches Edition of 100

Nudo #1, 1984
Etching
9 x 8 1/2 inches
Edition of 100