{"data":{"id":"210","type":"artist","attributes":{"id":210,"topgoose_id":2471,"tms_id":210,"display_name":"Paul Cadmus","sort_name":"Cadmus Paul","display_date":"1904–1999","begin_date":"1904","end_date":"1999","biography":"\u003cp\u003ePaul Cadmus gained notoriety in 1934\nwhen Navy officials decried his canvas\n\u003ca href=\"/collection/works/3665\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Fleet’s In!\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003cem\u003e,\u003c/em\u003e the second in a trilogy\nof works he made depicting drunken sailors\non leave carousing with prostitutes or\nother men. \u003ca href=\"http://collection/works/2825\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eSailors and Floosies\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/a\u003e, the third\npainting in the series, highlights Cadmus’s\ncomic sensibility, his frank depiction of\nsexuality (which often included homoerotic\nundertones), and his talent for recording\nmodern life with the technical virtuosity\nof the Italian Renaissance masters. At the\ncomposition’s center a disarmingly brawny\n“floosie” is poised over a recumbent\nsailor, her harsh countenance contrasting\nwith his angelic beauty in an extreme\njuxtaposition of satire and classicism. Inspired\nby anatomical studies of the Renaissance,\nand also drawing on techniques from\nthe Old Masters, Cadmus sculpted the\nfigures’ musculature and rendered it visible\nthrough their tightly fitted clothing. Like\nmany of his contemporaries, he used the\nancient medium of tempera, a fast-drying\ncombination of egg yolk, pigment, and water\nthat facilitated his graphic style.\n\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDespite these historical influences,\n\u003cem\u003eSailors and Floosies\u003c/em\u003e is firmly situated in\nmodern America. The bawdy scene\nunfolds in front of the Soldiers and Sailors\nMonument in New York’s Riverside Park,\nwith the graffiti covering the monument\nextending onto Cadmus’s handmade frame.\nIn the left foreground, a cast-off newspaper\nreports the death toll of a recent air\nraid in Europe—a reminder of the anxieties\nthat pervaded the late 1930s. \u003cem\u003eSailors\nand Floosies\u003c/em\u003e caused a stir, leading to the\npainting’s temporary removal from the\n1940 World’s Fair in San Francisco.\u003c/p\u003e","on_view":false,"artport":false,"biennial":true,"collection":true,"ulan_id":"500009073","wikidata_id":"Q519534","created_at":"2017-08-30T17:24:00.000-04:00","updated_at":"2026-04-13T07:02:45.438-04:00","links":{"artworks":"/api/artists/210/artworks","exhibitions":"/api/artists/210/exhibitions"}}}}