Paul Cadmus: Etchings

Paul Cadmus mined New York’s parks, cafes, beaches, and gyms for his satirical views of society during the 1930s. Classically trained at the National Academy of Design, his work demonstrated the artist’s mastery of anatomy and perspective, but he applied these skills to the creation of a carnivalesque, at times grotesque, world. In his complex, multi-character images, his exaggerated, Mannerist figures engage in bacchanalian behavior that tips into satire. In quieter studies, the artist introduced a noted erotic charge that was unusual in early twentieth-century American art. This exhibition is drawn from a private collection in Winston-Salem and sponsored by Bruce McLain.

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Credit: Paul Cadmus, Coney Island, 1935, © 2021 Estate of Paul Cadmus / Artists Right Society (ARS), NY