George Tooker
George Tooker was an American painter known for egg-tempera scenes of offices, subways, and waiting rooms, often centered on isolation and social tension.
Painter
Paul Cadmus
Paul Cadmus was an American painter known for figurative social satire, sustained egg tempera, and casein, watercolor, and gouache studies on paper.
Paul Cadmus quick facts
Cadmus developed precise figurative paintings and social satire, using egg tempera for major works and casein, watercolor, or gouache for studies on paper.
| Full name | Paul Cadmus |
|---|---|
| Born | 1904 · New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | 1999 · Weston, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Movements | Magic Realism and Social Realism |
| Paint types | Egg tempera · Oil paint |
| Other media | — |
| Other materials | — |
| Painting surfaces | Painting board · Canvas · Linen · Wood · Paper · Cardboard |
| Painting methods | Slow, precise egg-tempera painting built with fine crosshatched strokes on rigid supports |
| Common subjects | Figures, social satire, urban life, mythology, allegory, and portraits |
| Notable works | The Fleet's In! and the Seven Deadly Sins series |
Sources: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Smithsonian: Green Still Life, Smithsonian American Art Museum: Bar Italia, The Met: The Seven Deadly Sins: Pride, The Met: The Seven Deadly Sins: Avarice, The Met: Gilding the Acrobats, and Smithsonian Archives of American Art oral history.
Paint types used by Paul Cadmus
Records document Paul Cadmus’s use of Egg tempera, Oil paint, with examples below linking each medium to a specific work and its role in the image.
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Egg tempera
The Seven Deadly Sins: Pride (1948) is egg tempera on gessoed linen over Masonite. Cadmus used the fine control of this medium to model sharply defined figures and arrange them within a tightly packed allegory. The prepared linen and hardboard backing form a layered support for the carefully worked image.
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Oil paint
The Smithsonian catalogs Sailors and Floosies (1938) as oil and tempera on linen mounted on composition board. The record identifies both media but does not specify the tempera binder, so it should not be called egg tempera. The mixed paint supports Cadmus’s detailed, satirical depiction of urban life.
Sources: The Met: The Seven Deadly Sins: Pride; Whitney Museum of American Art: Sailors and Floosies.; Smithsonian American Art Museum: Paul Cadmus
Painting surfaces used by Paul Cadmus
Paul Cadmus's documented works use painting board, canvas, linen; examples distinguish the painted surface from its support or object in each cited work.
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Painting Board
Cadmus used rigid board supports, including the Masonite panel beneath the gessoed linen in The Seven Deadly Sins: Pride. Smithsonian records document composition board in Sailors and Floosies as well; these layered constructions distinguish the hard support from the painted linen.
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Canvas
Cadmus also painted on canvas for selected finished works. This flexible support appears alongside his panel-based egg-tempera paintings and linen mounted on composition board, showing that he worked in more than one format. Keep the examples tied to collection records rather than assuming canvas for every oil painting.
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Linen
Linen appears in Cadmus’s paintings and studies as a woven support. The Smithsonian documents linen in Sailors and Floosies, mounted on composition board, and the gessoed linen in The Seven Deadly Sins: Pride over Masonite. These layered supports distinguish the textile from its backing.
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Wood
Cadmus painted on wood panels in selected works documented by museum collections. The rigid surface carries detailed figurative compositions and differs from the linen-mounted board support used in some of his paintings. Collection records identify wood as the direct support for those panel works.
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Paper
Paper supports Cadmus’s drawings and studies, including preparatory figure work. These sheets document a portable drawing practice that sits alongside his highly finished tempera paintings on prepared panel and oil paintings on fabric or board. The sheets remain distinct from his finished paintings.
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Cardboard
Cadmus used cardboard for selected works and studies documented in collection records. The lightweight rigid sheet differs from composition board and canvas, and provides a compact surface for painted or preparatory work. Museum catalogs identify the material in individual examples.
Sources: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Smithsonian: Green Still Life, Smithsonian American Art Museum: Bar Italia, The Met: The Seven Deadly Sins: Pride, The Met: The Seven Deadly Sins: Avarice.
Painters similar to Paul Cadmus
Cadmus's egg tempera and precise figures connect him to American realists, while satirical scenes and symbolic imagery give his work a distinct character.
Robert Vickrey
Robert Vickrey was a painter and illustrator known for egg-tempera works combining observation and symbolism, plus watercolor and gouache paintings.
John Wilde
John Wilde was an American Magic Realist known for intricate oil paintings on wooden panels, depicting surreal figures, animals, and imagined worlds.
Jared French
Jared French was an American painter known for precise egg-tempera pictures of figures and symbolic scenes, and associated with Magic Realism.