Paul Cadmus

born: New York, NY, US; 17 December 1904
died: Weston, CT, US; 12 December 1999

This is the third part of a three part summary biography and gallery of Paul Cadmus' art.

Cadmus has established his methods of working and his source of income. The primary source of income is the sale of drawings. He occasionally dapples in large painted works similar to things he has done earlier in his life. But mostly he does drawings with crayon on specially toned paper. This technique he has evolved for himself during the decade of the fifties most by experiment ion.

Each drawing takes about three days to draw. He does all his drawing with a live model; he does not work from photographs. This might be characterized as the "I am a very slow camera approach." It is tiresome for the model as well as exacting and difficult for the artist. But with Cadmus it produces spectacular finished drawings.

Cadmus last steady boy friend was George Tooker and they had split up ten years ago. At this point Tooker is now living in Vermont with his life partner, Tooker's hard times are still away's away.

Paints his Hommage to Reynaldo Hahn, who for several years was the boyfriend of Proust and after he left Proust became a successful composer/conductor/man-about-town.

Maybe there is a bit of reading of Tooker as Reynaldo Hahn in this picture. George Tooker's artistic career was doing OK and he had a steady lover, but Cadmus was still alone and many of his close friends had died or drifted away. And Cadmus was getting older; he was approaching sixty.

Family Group
1964
Egg tempera on Whatman board,
14¾ x 19¾ inches
Modern Art Museum
Fort Worth, TZ, US

Glitters
1966
Egg tempera on Whatman board,
8½ x 16¼ inches
Private Collection

On a trip, Cadmus meets the cabaret singer, Jon Anderson (about age 30) in Nantucket, Massachusetts. He gives Jon his card and suggests that Jon might be suitable as a model.

Jon calls him and they begin a long term relationship both personal and as Cadmus' primary model.

Cadmus begins to paint and draw a series of male nudes for which Jon Anderson is the primary model. This series is supposedly labeled with NM, standing for "Nantucket Man" as opposed to "Nude Male".

Male Nude NM16
1965
Crayon on paper,
14 x 22 in
Private Collection
Washington DC, US

Male Nude NM28
1965
Crayons on hand-toned paper,
28½ x 10 inches
DC Moore Gallery
New York, NY, US

Sleeping Nude
1967
Egg tempera on Whatman board,
6 x 12 inches
Collection: Steven and Susan Weber

Male Nude NM76
1970
Crayons on hand-toned paper,
9½ x 13 inches
Private Collection:

Cadmus and Jon Anderson move to Weston Connecticut.

Cadmus again embarks on a large canvas of social commentary, this time using acrylic paint rather than egg tempera.

The House that Jack Built
1987
Egg tempera on pressed wood panel,
33 x 33 in
Private Collection

Rise and Fall
1989
Egg tempera on gesso panel,
20½ x 18 in
DC Moore Gallery
New York, NY, US

The Lid
1990
Egg tempera on gesso panel,
12 x 23½ in
DC Moore Gallery
New York, NY, US

Male Nude NM156
1980
Crayon on paper,
22½ x 18 in
DC Moore Gallery
New York, NY, US

Male Nude NM209
1987
Crayon on hand toned paper,
19½ x 17¼
Private Collection
Wilmington, DE, US

Jon at Mirror NM223
1989
Crayon on black paper,
20 x 18 in
Collection: Larry W. Anderson

Me: 1940-1990
(Double Self)
1990
Crayons on gray paper,
9¾ x 9½ inches

Jared French dies in Rome.
Monroe Wheeler dies in NY.

Book Buff
1994
Egg tempera on gesso panel
19 x 14 inches
DC Moore Gallery
New York, NY, US

Male Nude Z26
1998
Crayons on gray Strathmore paper,
toned with india ink & rust brown acrylic
14½ x 20½ inches
DC Moore Gallery
New York, NY, US