Paul Cadmus (December 17, 1904 - December 12, 1999) was an artist born in New York City. He is best known for his paintings and drawings of nude male figures. His works combined elements of eroticism and social critique to produce a style often called magic realism.

In 1934 he painted The Fleet's In! while working for the Public Works of Art Project of the WPA. This painting, featuring carousing sailors, women, and a homosexual man, was the subject of a public outcry and was removed from exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery. The publicity helped to launch his career.

He lived with his companion of 35 years, Jon Anderson, who was a subject of many of his works.

In 1999 he died in his home in Weston, Connecticut due to advanced age, just five days short of his 95^th birthday.

Quotes

• "Gayness is not the raison d'être of my work."
• "As an unknown artist at the time, I benefited from the censorship controversy -- and I am eternally grateful to that offended admiral."

Education

• National Academy of Design, 1926
• Art Students League, 1928
• Travels through Europe, 1931-1933

List of Works

• The Fleet's In!, 1933, Navy Art Gallery, Washington Navy Yard
• YMCA Locker Room, 1933
• Shore Leave, 1933
• Greenwich Village Cafeteria, 1934
• Coney Island, 1935
• Aspects of Suburban Life: Main Street, 1935, D.C. Moore Gallery
• Aspects of Suburban Life: Golf, 1936, Virtual Museum of Canada
• Sailors and Floozies, 1938, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City
• Pocahontas and John Smith, 1938, Port Washinton Post Office
• Two Boys on a Beach #1, 1938, D.C. Moore Gallery
• Bathers, 1939
• Aviator, 1941
• The Shower, 1943
• The Seven Deadly Sins, 1945-1949
• What I Believe, 1947-1948
• The Bath, 1951
• Manikins, 1951
• Night in Bologna, 1958
• Sunday Sun, 1958-1959
• Male Nude, 1966, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Missouri
• The Haircut, 1986
• Final Study for the House that Jack Built, 1987, D.C. Moore Gallery
• Me: 1940-1990, 1990, D.C. Moore Gallery
• Jon Reading NM248, 1992, D.C. Moore Gallery
• Jon Extracting a Splinter NM255, 1993, D.C. Moore Gallery

Biographical Works

• Sutherland, David. Paul Cadmus, Enfant Terrible at 80. Documentary film, 1984
• Kirstein, Lincoln. Paul Cadmus, 1984
• The Drawings of Paul Cadmus

Exhibitions

• Corcoran Gallery, Washington, DC, 1935
• Midtown Galleries, New York, 1937
• Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1996
• D.C. Moore Gallery, New York, 1996

Sources

• http://www.glbtq.com/arts/cadmus_p.html
• http://www.history.navy.mil/ac/cadmus/cadmus.htm
• http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/3aa/3aa442.htm
• http://www.johnpence.com/visuals/masters/cadmus/
• http://www.artnet.com/artist/102081/Paul_Cadmus.html