Paul Cadmus (American, 1904-1999) Female Nude (From My Sketchbook #C)

Description

PAUL CADMUS (AMERICAN, 1904-1999)
Female nude (from my sketchbook #C)
signed 'Paul Cadmus' (lower right)
pen and brown ink on … more PAUL CADMUS (AMERICAN, 1904-1999)
Female nude (from my sketchbook #C)
signed 'Paul Cadmus' (lower right)
pen and brown ink on paper
11 x 8-1/4 in. (27.9 x 21 cm.)
Drawn circa 1936.

Provenance
Midtown Payson Galleries, New York.
Acquired from the above by the present owner, 1993

Paul Cadmus (December 17, 1904 – December 12, 1999) was an American artist widely known for his egg tempera paintings of gritty social interactions in urban settings. He also produced many highly finished drawings of single nude male figures. His paintings combine elements of eroticism and social critique in a style often called magic realism.

Paul Cadmus was born on December 17, 1904, in a tenement on 103rd Street near Amsterdam Avenue, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, the son of artists, Maria Latasa, of Basque and Cuban ancestry, and Egbert Cadmus (1868–1939), of Dutch ancestry. His father, who studied with Robert Henri, worked as a commercial artist, and his mother illustrated children's books. His sister, Fidelma Cadmus, married Lincoln Kirstein, a philanthropist, arts patron, and co-founder of the New York City Ballet,in 1941.

At age 15, Cadmus left school to attend the National Academy of Design for 6 years. In 1925, at age 20, Cadmus became a member of The Brooklyn Society of Etchers (now known as the Society of American Graphic Artists or SAGA). In their 10th Annual Exhibition held at the Brooklyn Museum he showed three etchings, "Fidelma", "Calogero Scibetta" and "Kramer". He enrolled at the Art Students League of New York in 1928 taking life-drawing lessons while working as a commercial illustrator at a New York advertising agency. He furthered his education while traveling through Europe from 1931 to 1933 with fellow artist Jared French, who became his lover for a time.

After traveling through France and Spain, Cadmus and French settled in a fishing village on the island Majorca. In 1933, they headed back to the United States after running out of money, where Cadmus was one of the first artists to be employed by The New Deal art programs, painting murals at post offices. He maintained a studio at 54 Morton Street.

Cadmus worked in commercial illustration as well, but French, also a tempera artist, convinced him to devote himself completely to fine art. In 1979, he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an associate member and became a full member in 1980.

Cadmus is ranked by Artists Trade Union of Russia amongst the world's best artists of the last four centuries less