Paul Cadmus

Written by the artist's brother-in-law, who has posed for portraits and collaborated with Cadmus in theatrical design, the text takes us chronologically through individual works, which are characterized by tight, expert draftsmanship most often used to illustrate a perfect male form. Cadmus's style ranges from sedate portraits of solitary figures, usually in repose, to group scenes charged with movement, interaction and festivity. The group scenes generally depict people in their least attractive attitudes. Painted with egg tempura, these canvases seem to glow and appear fresh and vibrant. The allegorical works, such as ""The Seven Deadly Sins,'' are vulgar renditions that express themselves as cheap poster-art sentimentality. The middle ground of this artist's work, paintings that are somewhat cartoon-like and full of life, seem to be the most successful. The text is full of informative detail but the work suffers from an infatuation with its subject and lack of attention to contemporaneous art movements which would place the artist in a larger social context. (September)