Tyler Green at ArtsJournal's MAN takes note of this new acquisition by the Toledo Art Museum. It was painted in 1931 by Paul Cadmus. "Jerry" is a painting of his lover Jerry French and has been in the French family until just recently.
Cadmus was 26 at the time, writes Green: "French was a frequent subject and model for both Cadmus' paintings and
photographs. They met at the Art Students League in New York and Cadmus
later credited French with encouraging him to pursue fine art subjects
rather than commercial work…French and Cadmus were lovers when this picture was painted
and remained lovers even after French's marriage…in
1937…Given the resemblance between French and the men in scores of Tom of
Finland drawings, it's worth noting that Cadmus' work was indeed a
particular point of departure for Touko Laaksonen, who is better known
as Tom of Finland."
More on the painting at MAN…
