Cadmus - Part 2

For the 2nd post dedicated to Paul Cadmus we will begin with his dear friend and collaborator, George Platt Lynes—who will get his own post soon (stay tuned). His photographs of Cadmus and Jared French sit right alongside this work, capturing the same bodies with a different kind of precision. 

Paul Cadmus drawing Ralph McWilliams - George Platt Lynes

Paul Cadmus (top) and Jared French (bottom) - George Platt Lynes

Jared French (bottom) and Paul Cadmus (top) - George Platt Lynes

From there, Cadmus’s world opens up—moving from single figures into fuller scenes: sailors on shore leave, locker rooms, group dynamics. Not so much a straight evolution as an expansion. More bodies, more interaction, more to take in.

The Bath - Paul Cadmus

The Shower - Paul Cadmus

Playground - Paul Cadmus

Y.M.C.A. Locker Room - Paul Cadmus

The Fleet's In - Paul Cadmus

And then there’s Jon Anderson—Cadmus’s partner later in life—model, muse, and presence in both his paintings and photographs. From the younger bodies of PaJaMa to the older, quieter intimacy of works like The Haircut and Jon Embracing Paul, you see the full arc. Same gaze, just lived longer.

The Haircut - Paul Cadmus (Anderson cutting Cadmus' hair)

Jon Embraces Paul - Paul Cadmus self-portrait with Jon Anderson

For me, this is where it all starts to connect. The same bodies, the same gaze, moving between photography, drawing, and painting—eventually feeding into physique culture and beyond. It’s not a straight line, but it’s there. Different mediums, same impulse: to look, to show, and to be seen.

Comments?

Would love any personal accounts of Cadmus and his work.  I'm fascinated by the whole scene.