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Paul Cadmus, Night in Bologna, 1958, egg tempera on fiberboard, 50 3⁄4 x 35 in. (129.0 x 89.0 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1986.6.87
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Artwork Details
- Title
- Night in Bologna
- Artist
- Date
- 1958
- Location
- Dimensions
- 50 3⁄4 x 35 in. (129.0 x 89.0 cm)
- Credit Line
- Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation
- Mediums
- Mediums Description
- egg tempera on fiberboard
- Classifications
- Subjects
- Architecture Exterior — detail — column
- Cityscape — Italy — Bologna
- Dress — uniform — military uniform
- Occupation — military — soldier
- Cityscape — time — night
- Figure group
- Object Number
- 1986.6.87
Artwork Description
Modern American Realism: The Sara Roby Foundation Collection, 2014
Gallery Label
Night in Bologna is a dark comedy of sexual tensions played out on a stage of shadowy arcades. In the foreground, a soldier on leave throws off a visible heat that suffuses the air around him with a red glow. He casts an appraising look at a worldly woman nearby, who gauges the interest of a man seated at a café table. The gawky tourist is unaware of her attentions, and looks longingly at the man in uniform. Cadmus left the outcome unclear because he was more interested in the tangle of human instincts than in tidy resolutions. He once said that he would always rather paint "a novel" than "a short story."Exhibition Label, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2006
Exhibitions
This exhibition presents some of the most treasured paintings and sculpture from SAAM’s permanent collection, including artworks by Will Barnet, Isabel Bishop, Paul Cadmus, Edward Hopper, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Jacob Lawrence, George Tooker, among others.
October 1, 2021–May 18, 2025
Artist to Artist features paired artworks, each representing two figures whose trajectories intersected at a creatively crucial moment, whether as student and teacher, professional allies, or friends.