A renowned satirist, Cadmus was one of the most accomplished draftsmen of the twentieth century. Featuring a circus acrobat who, with help from two companions, covers his muscular body with gold radiator paint, Gilding the Acrobats reenacts literally the experience of painting the figure with thinly veiled homoeroticism. In an era when homosexual behavior was criminalized and homoerotic imagery was intensely policed, gay artists like Cadmus and Richmond Barthé turned frequently to circus performers and athletes as the few socially permissible subjects that offered the opportunity to lavish attention on the male body.
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the artist, New York (1935–44; on consignment to Midtown Galleries, New York, 1937–44; sold through Midtown in 1944 to Britannica); Encyclopædia Britannica (1944–50; sold to MMA)
Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. "Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings, Prints and Sculpture Related to Circus Life," November 3–24, 1935, no. 20 (as "Gilding Tite Acrobats").
Philadelphia. Gimbel Galleries. "An American Group," April 13–May 3, 1936, unnum. brochure.
Pittsburgh. Gillespie Galleries. "Contemporary American Art," October 15–December 6, 1936, no catalogue.
New York. Midtown Galleries. "Paul Cadmus," March 22–April 10, 1937, brochure no. 8.
Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. "Art of the Americas: Pre-Columbian & Contemporary," June 12–October 31, 1937, no. 16 (lent by the Midtown Galleries, New York).
Philadelphia. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. "133rd Annual Exhibition," January 30–March 6, 1938, no. 32.
London. Wildenstein & Co., Ltd. "Contemporary American Paintings," May 25–June 25, 1938, no. 8.
San Francisco. Golden Gate International Exposition. "Contemporary Art," February 18–October 29, 1939, no. 61 (lent by Midtown Galleries, New York City).
St. Louis. City Art Museum. "Thirty-Fourth Annual Exhibition of Paintings by American Artists," January 2–February 18, 1940, no. 9.
Cleveland Museum of Art. "The 16th Exhibition of Contemporary American Oils," June 14–July 14, 1940, unnum. checklist (published in Ref. Cleveland Bulletin 1940).
Cincinnati Art Museum. "Forty-Seventh Annual Exhibition of American Art," November 2–December 1, 1940, no. 22 (lent by The Midtown Galleries).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Contemporary Painting in the United States," April 19–27, 1941, no. 28 (lent by the artist).
Mexico City. Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes. "La Pintura Contemporánea Norteamericana," June 12–July 9, 1941, unnumbered cat. (p. 34; dated 1936, lent by Midtown Galleries).
Santiago. Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes. "La Pintura Contemporánea Norteamericana," September 6–October 5, 1941, unnumbered cat.
Lima. Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes. "La Pintura Contemporánea Norteamericana," November 5–30, 1941, unnumbered cat.
Quito. Universidad Central de Ecuador. "La Pintura Contemporánea Norteamericana," November 15–December 7, 1941, unnumbered cat.
Baltimore Museum of Art. "The Work of Three Outstanding Contemporary American Painters: Hartley—Intellectual, Cadmus—Satirist, Burchfield—Romanticist," July 5–September 6, 1942, unnum. checklist (lent by Midtown Galleries, New York).
City Art Museum of Saint Louis. "The 37th Annual Exhibition: American Painting of Today," February 5–March 13, 1944, no. 13 (dated 1936; lent by the Midtown Gallery, New York).
Art Institute of Chicago. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," April 12–May 13, 1945, no. 18.
New York. International Building at Rockefeller Center. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," June 6–July 8, 1945, no. 18.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," July 26–August 26, 1945, no. 18.
Washington, D.C. Corcoran Gallery of Art. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," September 15–October 14, 1945, no. 18.
Dayton Art Institute. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," November 1–25, 1945, no. 18.
Pittsburgh. Carnegie Institute. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," December 18, 1945–January 27, 1946, no. 18.
Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," February 17–March 15, 1946, no. 18.
Cincinnati Art Museum. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," April 10–May 10, 1946, no. 18.
Detroit Institute of Arts. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," June 1–July 1, 1946, no. 18.
Milwaukee Art Institute. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," July 16–August 25, 1946, no. 18.
Minneapolis Institute of Arts. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," September 10–October 13, 1946, no. 18.
Indianapolis. John Herron Art Institute. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," November 3–December 8, 1946, no. 18.
Kansas City, Mo. William Rockhill Nelson Gallery. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," January 5–February 2, 1947, no. 18.
Saint Louis. City Art Museum. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," February 20–March 20, 1947, no. 18.
Davenport, Iowa. Davenport Municipal Art Gallery. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," April 5–May 1, 1947, no. 18.
Omaha. Joslyn Memorial. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," June 1–July 1, 1947, no. 18.
Wichita Art Association. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," July 15–August 15, 1947, no. 18.
New Orleans. Isaac Delgado Museum of Art. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," September 1–October 1, 1947, no. 18.
Denver Art Museum. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," October 15–November 15, 1947, no. 18.
Santa Barbara Museum of Art. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," December 1–31, 1947, no. 18.
Pasadena Art Institute. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," January 13–February 15, 1948, no. 18.
Sacramento. Crocker Art Gallery. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," March 10–April 10, 1948, no. 18.
Seattle Art Museum. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," April 28–May 23, 1948, no. 18.
Portland, Ore. Portland Art Association. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," June 10–July 10, 1948, no. 18.
San Francisco. M. H. de Young Memorial Museum. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," July 25–August 25, 1948, no. 18.
Fine Arts Society of San Diego. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," September 15–October 15, 1948, no. 18.
Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," November 14–December 12, 1948, no. 18.
Tulsa. Philbrook Museum of Art. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," January 4–30, 1949.
Salt Lake City. Utah State Capitol. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," February 21–March 18, 1949.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," April 10–May 1, 1949.
Memphis, Tenn. Brooks Memorial Art Gallery. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," May 9–June 15, 1949 [shown as part of the Carnvial Art Exhibition].
Des Moines Art Center. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," July 2–August 1, 1949.
Oklahoma City. Oklahoma Art Center. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," September 15–October 15, 1949.
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," November 3–December 15, 1949.
Tucson. Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," January 3–15, 1950, extended to January 22, 1950,.
Phoenix. Fine Arts Building, Arizona State Fair. "Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting," January 29–February 12, 1950.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "20th Century Painters: A Special Exhibition of Oils, Water Colors and Drawings Selected from the Collections of American Art in the Metropolitan Museum," June 16–October 29, 1950, unnum. brochure (p. 4).
Davenport, Iowa. Davenport Municipal Art Gallery. "Art of the Circus and Theater," April 1–22, 1951, no catalogue.
South Bend, Indiana. South Bend Art Association. "Art of the Circus and Theater," May 6–27, 1951, no catalogue.
Philadelphia Art Alliance. "Art and the Circus," May 21–June 17, 1956, brochure no. 96.
Santa Barbara Museum of Art. "All About the Circus: Variations on a Theme by Artists of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries," August 4–30, 1959, no. 11.
San Francisco. California Palace of the Legion of Honor. "All About the Circus: Variations on a Theme by Artists of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries," September 12–October 12, 1959, no. 11.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "American Paintings, Drawings and Watercolors from the Museum's Collections," October 1–December 7, 1969, no catalogue.
Hempstead, N. Y. Emily Lowe Gallery, Hofstra University. "The Male Nude," November 1–December 12, 1973, no. 36.
New York Cultural Center. "Three Centuries of the American Nude," May 9–July 13, 1975, no. 76.
Minneapolis Institute of Arts. "Three Centuries of the American Nude," August 6–September 21, 1975, no. 76.
University of Houston Fine Art Center. "Three Centuries of the American Nude," October 3–November 16, 1975, no. 76.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Tribute to a Curator: Robert Beverly Hale," November 16, 1978–March 4, 1979, extended to March 18, 1979, no catalogue [removed from exhibition February 25, 1979].
Oxford, Ohio. Miami University Art Museum. "Paul Cadmus: Yesterday and Today," September 12–October 25, 1981, no. 11.
Storrs. William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut. "Paul Cadmus: Yesterday and Today," March 20–May 2, 1982, no. 11.
Yonkers, N. Y. Hudson River Museum. "Paul Cadmus: Yesterday and Today," May 20–July 11, 1982, no. 11.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Paul Cadmus: The Seven Deadly Sins and Selections from the Collection," April 7–July 4, 1995, extended to August 13, 1995, no catalogue.
Jeanette Jena. "Contemporary American Artists' Works are Shown." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (October 20, 1936), p. 11.
C. H. Bonte. "American Etching Annual and Gimbel Group Show." Philadelphia Inquirer (April 12, 1936), p. 12.
Emily Genauer. "Younger Painters in the East." Parnassus 9 (April 1937), ill. p. 18.
E [dward]. A [lden]. J [ewell]. "Three Solos." New York Times (March 28, 1937), p. X9.
Harry Salpeter. "Paul Cadmus: Enfant Terrible." Esquire 8 (July 1937), p. 112, ill. p. 106 (color).
Edward Alden Jewell. "Cadmus Canvases Hung at Midtown." New York Times (March 27, 1937), p. 12L.
"Paul Cadmus of Navy Fame Has His First Art Show." Life 2 (March 29, 1937), pp. 44, 47, ill. (color).
M[artha]. D[avidson]. "Paul Cadmus." Art News 35 (April 3, 1937), p. 17, ill.
"Cadmus, Satirist of Modern 'Civilization'." Art Digest 11 (April 1, 1937), p. 17.
"Americans in London." Art Digest 12 (May 15, 1938), p. 16.
Eric Newton. "English Reviewer on American Art." Sun (Baltimore, Md.) (June 16, 1938), p. 8.
"London to Rival Paris in Display of American Art." New York Herald Tribune (May 7, 1938), p. 9.
Edward Alden Jewell. "In the Realm of Art: Comment on a Spirited Debate; 'American Affirmation'." New York Times (August 7, 1938), p. X7, ill.
Edward Alden Jewell. "In the Realm of Art: Comment on Trends and Activities; How the Americans Fared in London." New York Times (July 24, 1938), p. X7.
Anthony Blunt. "Furrin Art." Spectator 160 (June 3, 1938), p. 1009.
"Americans in London." Art Digest 12 (May 15, 1938), p. 16.
Elizabeth McCausland. "Contemporary Americans to be Shown in London." Springfield Weekly Republican (May 26, 1938), p. 11.
"Art of Our Day and Our Country." St. Louis Post-Dispatch (January 14, 1940), p. 6, ill.
"Exhibitors and Exhibits." Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 27 (June 1940), p. 99.
Mary L. Alexander. "The Week in Art Circles." Cincinnati Enquirer (November 24, 1940), p. 11.
Mary L. Alexander. "Trend to Genre is Seen in American Art as Reflected in Show Opening Tomorrow." Cincinnati Enquirer (October 31, 1940), p. 10.
"The Week in Art Circles." Cincinnati Enquirer (November 10, 1940), p. 43, calls it "Gilding the Acrobat".
"Famous Paintings by Modern American Artists." Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 14, 1941, pl. 24.
"Museum of Arts Summer." Sun (Baltimore, Md.) (June 21, 1942), p. M5.
Grace V. Kelly. "Art Museum's Resumption of Contemporary American Oils Exhibition Offers Treat." Cleveland Plain Dealer (June 16, 1942), p. 16-B.
"20th Century Art Bought by Britannica." Art Digest 18 (May 15, 1944), p. 10.
Peyton Boswell, Jr. "Twentieth Century Medicis." Art Digest 18 (May 15, 1944), p. 3.
Tennessee Williams. Letter to Donald Windham. March 4, 1944 [published in Donald Windham, ed. "Tennessee Williams' Letters to Donald Windham 1940–1965," New York, 1977, pp. 131–32], mentions seeing this picture in Exh. St. Louis 1944.
Florence S. Berryman. "The Art World: Britannica Art Exhibition at Corcoran is Kaleidoscopic Portrait of America." Sunday Star, Washington, D.C. (September 23, 1945), p. C-6, ill. p. 4 (gravure section).
Robert M. Coates. "The Art Galleries: Windup." New Yorker (June 16, 1945), p. 58.
Grace Pagano. The Encyclopædia Britannica Collection of Contemporary American Painting. Ed. Grace Pagano. Chicago, 1946, unpaginated, pl. 18.
Anna W. Olmsted. "Art Chat. The Lady and the Tiger." Syracuse Herald-American (March 3, 1946), p. 10.
Mary L. Alexander. "The Week in Art Circles." Cincinnati Enquirer (April 21, 1946), p. 36.
Patye Billfaldt. "Encyclopaedia Britannica Collection Marks Museum's Celebration." Houston Post (April 10, 1949), p. 5.
"Circus Art Exhibition to Close Today." South Bend Tribune (May 27, 1951), p. 8.
"Encyclopedia Britannica Art Up for Auction." New York Herald Tribune (December 7, 1952), p. 52.
"Art Alliance Takes You to the Circus." Art Alliance Bulletin 34 (May 1956), ill. p. 9.
Albert Ten Eyck Gardner. A Concise Catalogue of the American Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1957, p. 6.
Malcolm Preston. "ART: Male Nudes: Myth and Mood." Newsday (November 21, 1973), p. 6A.
William H. Gerdts. The Great American Nude: A History in Art. New York, 1974, p. 179, fig. 9-6.
Nancy Heller and Julia Williams. The Regionalists. New York, 1976, pl. 91 [reprinted as "Painters of the American Scene" 1982], date it about 1949.
Philip Eliasoph. Paul Cadmus: Catalogue Raisonné, Paintings 1931–1977. [s.l.], 1977, p. 6, no. 24.
Philip Eliasoph. Paul Cadmus: Yesterday and Today. Exh. cat., Miami University Art Museum. Oxford, Oh., 1981, pp. 24, 46, no. 11, fig. 19 (reproduction of Ref. Encyclopaedia Britannica 1941) and ill. p. 46.
Bernard Hanson. "Art Review: A Fresh Consideration of Cadmus." Hartford Courant (April 18, 1982), p. E12.
James M. Saslow. "Paul Cadmus Revisited." Advocate (August 19, 1982), ill. p. 54.
Peter Conrad. The Art of the City: Views and Versions of New York. New York, 1984, p. 100.
Lincoln Kirstein. Paul Cadmus. New York, 1984, pp. 29, 133, ill.
Edward Lucie-Smith. Art of the 1930s: The Age of Anxiety. New York, 1985, p. 246, fig. 150.
Judd Tully. Oral history interview with Paul Cadmus. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. March 22, 1988, the artist mentions that this is one of his earliest pictures combining oil and tempera—what he calls the "mixed technique"—and notes that Jared (Jerry) French posed for the drawings that helped shape the painting.
Lincoln Kirstein. Paul Cadmus. Rev. ed. (1st ed., 1984). New York, 1992, pp. 28, 133, ill. p. 31 (color).
Richard Evan Meyer. "Outlaw Representation: Censorship and Homosexuality in American Art, 1934–1992." PhD diss., University of California, Berkeley, 1996, pp. 21–25, 29, 65–78, 87, figs. 4 (Ref. Encyclopaedia Britannica 1941), 5 (overall), 6 (detail), 7 (Exh. New York 1937 brochure), 31 (detail), 42 (detail).
Ken Gonzales-Day. "Visual Arts." St. James Press Gay & Lesbian Almanac. Ed. Neil Schlager. Detroit, 1998, p. 493.
Mark Cole. Jared French (1905–1988). PhD diss., University of Delaware. 1999, p. 51 n. 30.
David Leddick. Intimate Companions: A Triography of George Platt Lynes, Paul Cadmus, Lincoln Kirstein, and Their Circle. New York, 2000, p. 51.
Edward Lucie-Smith. Art Deco Painting. (1st ed., 1990). London, 2000, colorpl. 68.
Richard Meyer. Outlaw Representation: Censorship and Homosexuality in Twentieth-Century American Art. New York, 2002, pp. 33–34, 37, 72–76, 78–79, 81–86, 88, 93, 296 nn. 4, 9, 11, p. 306 n. 120, p. 308 nn. 131–34, figs. 2.1 (Ref. Encyclopaedia Britannica 1941), 2.2 (Exh. New York 1937 brochure), 2.32 (color), 2.39 (color detail), 2.41 (color detail), 2.45 (color detail).
David Eldridge. American Culture in the 1930s. Edinburgh, 2008, p. 187.
Anthony J. Morris. "The Censored Paintings of Paul Cadmus, 1934–1940: The Body as the Boundary Between the Decent and Obscene." PhD diss., Case Western Reserve University, 2010, p. 35 n. 53, p. 37 n. 60, pp. 40–41, 55–56, p. 162 n. 340, pp. 172–73, 178–81, figs. 2.1 (detail of Ref. Encyclopaedia Britannica 1941), 8.2 (color overall), 8.6 (preliminary drawings).
Christopher Reed. Art and Homosexuality: A History of Ideas. New York, 2011, pp. 152–53, fig. 5.3.
Mary Koon. "Jared French." Tracing Vision: Modern Drawings from the Georgia Museum of Art. Ed. Carol A. Nathanson. 2011, p. 122.
Justine Faure. "L'Amérique racontée aux Soviétiques: la revue 'Amerika' et la diplomatie publique américaine (1945–1952)." Revue d'histoire moderne et contemporaine (1954–) 61 (October–December 2014), p. 104.
Duane Michals. ABCDuane: A Duane Michals Primer. [New York], 2014, p. 28.
Berit Potter. "Grace McCann Morley and the Dialectical Exchange of Modern Art in the Americas, 1935–1958." PhD diss., Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, 2015, pp. 16, 76–84, 86–102, 104–5, 107, 109–111, 127–28, 162–64, 172, 234–35, appendix B, no. 30, discusses Exh. Mexico City and tour 1941.
Michael Schreiber. One-Man Show: The Life and Art of Bernard Perlin. Berlin, 2016, p. 66.
Sue Taylor. Grant Wood's Secrets. Newark, Del., 2020, p. 77, fig. 2.25 (color).
James Moske. "True to Form: 20th-Century Artist Statements from The Met Archives." metmuseum.org/perspectives. December 23, 2020.
Cyle Metzger. "Deep Cuts: Transgender History in American Art after World War II." PhD diss., Stanford University, 2021, pp. 10, 202–203, 224–28, 230–31, 244, fig. 4.8.
David Brody inLuigi Lucioni: Modern Light. Ed. Katie Wood Kirchhoff. Exh. cat., Shelburne Museum. Shelburne, Vt., 2022, pp. 66, 69, fig. 3 (color).
Ignacio Darnaude. "Paul Cadmus' Art of Cruising." Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide 29 (July–Aug 2022), p. 18.
Paul Cadmus (American, New York 1904–1999 Weston, Connecticut)
1984
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