Before we get into Jared French (1905-1988), let’s clear up a common mix-up—he’s not Jim French of Colt Studio fame. Different era, different world. Jared was working about 40 years earlier, embedded in that downtown New York circle with Paul Cadmus, George Platt Lynes, and George Tooker—a tight, queer-leaning creative orbit where painting, photography, and desire all overlapped. He’s often a quieter name in that lineup, but he was very much in the room where it all was happening.
French is a great example of what Michel Foucault was getting at when he pushed back on the myth of the lone genius. None of these artists were operating in isolation—they were building something together. French painted in egg tempera, worked in that eerie “magic realism” mode, and used photography less as an end product and more as a tool—reference, study, a way to understand the body. He moved fluidly between roles: artist, model, collaborator. Sometimes in front of the lens, sometimes behind it, always part of the exchange.
And then there’s the PaJaMa circle—Paul, Jared, and his wife Margaret Hoening French—summering on Fire Island, staging these intimate, often nude photographs with a rotating cast of artists, dancers, and writers. It wasn’t just documentation—it was play, performance, community. French may not get the same spotlight as Cadmus or Lynes, but he’s woven through their work in essential ways. One of those connective figures who reminds us that queer history, like art itself, is almost never a solo act.
Another excellent selection of photos and art. To have been a part of that scene and interact with them and those in their sphere must have been extraordinary.
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Agreed! Would’ve loved to have been there. Thanks for the link, Pat! I’ll definitely check this out! bns
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