Paul Cadmus

Paul Cadmus made frank depictions of homoerotic content that were controversial during his lifetime. This intensely sexualized view of a male nude-the model Ted Starkowski, alluded to as TS in the title-reflects artistic skill Cadmus developed through classical training.

Beginning in the 1940s, Paul Cadmus produced numerous highly detailed studies of nude male bodies, including many drawings like this, which he considered to be finished works of art. His sitters were mostly professional models, in this case a New York model and hustler named Ted Starkowski (“TS” in the title). Though Cadmus admired the bodies of these men, he found that maintaining an emotional distance from his models invested his drawings with a powerful and productive psychic tension. That energy is present here in the model’s gaze, almost hidden by the shadow of his arm as he makes direct eye contact with the artist and with viewers. Cadmus’s lifelong commitment to slow, careful working methods and drawing from life demonstrate his profound respect for the academic tradition of figure drawing.

Cadmus, like his contemporaries Reginald Marsh (1898-1954) and Edward Hopper (1882-1967), painted the American urban scene. Marsh and Hopper are well represented in the Museum's collection, but until the acquisition of this piece, Cadmus, a social realist with a satirical bite, was not; thus this purchase fills an important gap. The artist is known for his independent figure studies on toned paper. His short parallel strokes describe anatomy and musculature. Curatorial research and patience located the best available example of his works on paper. This drawing had been in the private collection of Lincoln Kirstein, Cadmus's brother-in-law and founding director of the New York City Ballet. The drawing entered the Museum's collection shortly before the artist's death in 1999.