Study for "Bar Italia"

Paul Cadmus was adept at both adapting the drawing techniques of the Old Masters and engaging contemporary viewers. He paid close attention to the relationships between the people he depicted, using such devices as eye contact or the direction of a gaze to suggest underlying meaning. His characters frequently display feelings of boredom or a distracted sexuality. In 1934 Cadmus achieved national celebrity when his painting The Fleet’s In! was removed by order of the Navy from a Public Works of Art Project exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., because it depicted a gay man seducing a willing sailor. Following this incident, his content became more suggestive than explicit.