Portrait of George Platt Lynes and Francis Burton Harrison, III, Clinton, N.J.

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Portrait of George Platt Lynes and Francis Burton Harrison, III, Clinton, N.J.

Artist Paul Cadmus (American, 1904-1999)

Dateabout 1941

DimensionsOverall: 4 11/16 x 6 7/16 in. (11.9 x 16.3 cm)

MediumVintage Silver Print

ClassificationPhotographs

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1993.42

Not on View

Label TextPrimarily known for his commitment to figurative art and traditional painting and drawing techniques, Paul Cadmus began experimenting with photography in 1937 with fellow artists Jared and Margaret French. This photograph of George Platt Lynes (foreground), a celebrated fashion photographer, and Francis Burton Harrison, both friends of Cadmus, was taken on a beach in Clinton, New Jersey. Cadmus’s closely cropped image of a shirtless (possibly nude?) male sunbathing matches the intimate atmosphere of the painting of his former lover Jerry (Jared French), located nearby. Both depict a male torso in a relaxed position and suggest sensuous pleasure. However, this photograph evokes a scene happened upon, enhanced by the immediacy of the photographic medium. As you view both photograph and painting by Cadmus consider the different feeling created not only by the medium, but by whether the subject returns your gaze.