Paul Cadmus and his Muse
April 12 - May 14, 2005
Opening Preview: Tuesday, April 12 from 6:00 to 7:30 pm

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Paul Cadmus, who passed away in 1999, just a week shy of his 95th birthday. This focused exhibition celebrates Cadmus’s thirty four year relationship and collaboration with dancer, singer, and model Jon Anderson.

“From 1965 onward, Paul Cadmus, in collaboration with Jon Anderson, explored all aspects of the male nude, combining a reserved but blissful eroticism with formal explorations of torsion and foreshortening in the context of innovative, often witty composition,” observes Justin Spring in his book Paul Cadmus: The Male Nude. “One of the most delightful aspects of the Anderson drawings is their variety. Cadmus was continually exploring and innovating even as he strove for formal perfection through his repeated drawings of the same model.”

The Cadmus-Anderson drawings chronicle a thirty four year relationship and collaboration between two men who were lovers and friends, with Cadmus as the artist-mentor and Anderson as the model-muse. Cadmus met Anderson during a visit to Nantucket in the fall of 1964. Cadmus was then 59 and Anderson was 27. Anderson began modeling for Cadmus shortly thereafter and the two quickly discovered shared interests in music, art, literature, and dance. By the time Cadmus had completed his second drawing of Anderson, the two were physically and emotionally involved and they remained lovers and friends for the rest of Cadmus’s life, sharing a home from 1975 onward. Cadmus titled the drawing series featuring Anderson the “NM” series, for “Nantucket Man.”

Although Anderson had never before been an artist’s model, the work came naturally to him and he enjoyed it, eventually modeling for other artists. Cadmus almost Immediately came to prefer Anderson to all other models and frequently solicited his opinions and advice. The two viewed the series of nude drawings as a collaboration, as did outside observers including Cadmus biographer Lincoln Kirstein.

In creating a finished drawing Cadmus would usually have a pose in mind and would arrange the lighting, select any props, and prepare his materials in advance. At the start of the session, Cadmus would give preliminary instructions on the pose. Then a period of adjustment and experimentation would begin, as artist and model worked together to refine and perfect the often extremely complex and difficult poses. The work of creating a drawing took several days. Interspersed with the work were periods of play and relaxation as the two would listen to classical music or discuss books they were reading.

Recent solo exhibitions of Paul Cadmus’s work include: The Fleet’s In! Paintings by Paul Cadmus, which was on view at the National Museum of American Art in 1992 and traveled to other major American museums; a 1994 exhibition at the National Academy Museum in New York celebrating Paul’s 90th birthday; The Seven Deadly Sins and Other Works from the Permanent Collection, held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1995; Paul Cadmus: The Sailor Trilogy, featuring the 1930s works The Fleet’s In!, Shore Leave, and Sailors and Floosies, at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1996; and the exhibition Chuck Close/Paul Cadmus: In Dialogue at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1997. The hardcover monograph Paul Cadmus: The Male Nude by Justin Spring was released by Rizzoli/Universe in the fall of 2002. The book coincided with an exhibition of the same name at DC Moore Gallery.

The Paul Cadmus Estate is represented by DC Moore Gallery.

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DC Moore Gallery specializes in twentieth century and contemporary art. The gallery is located on the eighth floor of 724 Fifth Avenue between 56th and 57th Streets and is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 to 5:30. Press viewings can be arranged prior to the exhibition. Jon Anderson is available for interviews. For more information, for photographs, or to arrange a viewing or interview, please call Sandra Paci at 212-247-2111.