Paul Cadmus
1904-1999
Study for David and Goliath (Study for Jon after Caravaggio)
ca. 1971
Colored crayons on green paper.
13 3/16 x 16 inches (34 x 40.6 cm)
Bequest of John M. Thayer.
© Paul Cadmus / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
2005.48
Notes:
This drawing is a preparatory study for a 1971 painting called "Study for a David and Goliath." Inspired by Caravaggio's renderings of the subject, this detail shows the artist's sketch for David, modeled by his longtime muse Jon Anderson. The artist appears in the final composition as the decapitated, yet cheerful, giant. Lincoln Kirstein writes, " Cadmus's interpretation of this paradoxically unequal struggle is balanced by affection .... A wry, semi-geriatric giant, having lost his head in love, is actually winner over loneliness, age, and estrangement."
Inscription:
Signed and inscribed in crayon at upper right, "Cadmus / #F".
Provenance:
Midtown Galleries, Inc., March 1985; John M. Thayer, Wilmington, DE.
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