Artwork Page for Shore Leave

Details / Information for Shore Leave

Shore Leave

1935

Paul Cadmus

(American, 1904–1999)
Culture
America
Medium
etching
Measurements
Platemark: 26.4 x 29.2 cm (10 3/8 x 11 1/2 in.); Sheet: 32.4 x 39.9 cm (12 3/4 x 15 11/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland 1936.24
Catalogue raisonné
Davenport 40
Copyright
© Estate of Paul Cadmus/ VAGA, NY
This artwork is known to be under copyright.
Location
Not on view
Print
?

Did You Know?

A painting related to this print made by Cadmus in 1934 was removed from an exhibition after causing an uproar among U.S. military officials who deemed it indecent.

Description

This representation of sailors on shore leave with their dates in a city park is anything but innocent. Like urban crowd scenes made by his teacher, Reginald Marsh, Paul Cadmus’s pyramidal composition and voluptuous body types refer to late Renaissance paintings. But the protagonists’ exaggerated bosoms and buttocks, outrageously tight clothes, and uncontained movements also indicate their unbound sexuality. The image includes an oblique reference to homosexuality, signaled by the subtle exchange in the background between a soldier and a well-dressed civilian man. Cadmus’s mixture of satire and idealization enabled him to depict homoeroticism at a time when it was otherwise invisible within American art.

Shore Leave

1935

Paul Cadmus

(American, 1904–1999)
America

See Also

Visually Similar by AI

    Contact Us

    The information about this object, including provenance, may not be currently accurate. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@clevelandart.org.

    To request more information about this object, study images, or bibliography, contact the Ingalls Library Reference Desk.

    All images and data available through Open Access can be downloaded for free. For images not available through Open Access, or any image with a color bar, request a digital file from Image Services.