THE GUILDED LILY
Paul Cadmus (December 17, 1904 - December 12, 1999)
Cadmus was a New York City Native and the quintessential gay artist of the 1930’s glory days of the Village. His works represented gay men caricatures juxtly set in realistic, mainstream almost Rockwell’ish settings with a dash of Tom of Finland thrown in for spice. His egg tempera based works were labeled with the moniker “Magic Realism” and looking at his treasured work “Gilding the Acrobats” it’s easy to understand.
Risqué is fascinated by the obviously deliberate angle and position of the brush in the hand of the seated acrobat… looks more like gilding the willy lily!
Besides an amazing talent… Paul was also credited with being one of the finest gentlemen in the city… Talent, beauty and charm… Risqué thinks, while sipping a delicious 2004 Chateau le Gay and lifting a toast to this great artist, he might find himself doing summersaults over anything Cadmus… agree?
