Aspects of Suburban Life: Golf

Paul Cadmus, Aspects of Suburban Life: Golf, 1936, oil and tempera on fiberboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Department of State, 1978.76.1
Paul Cadmus, Aspects of Suburban Life: Golf, 1936, oil and tempera on fiberboard, 31 3⁄4 x 50 in. (80.6 x 127.0 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Department of State, 1978.76.1

Artwork Details

Title
Aspects of Suburban Life: Golf
Artist
Date
1936
Location
Dimensions
31 3⁄4 x 50 in. (80.6 x 127.0 cm.)
Credit Line
Transfer from the U.S. Department of State
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil and tempera on fiberboard
Classifications
Subjects
  • New Deal — Works Progress Administration, Federal Art Project — New York City
  • Recreation — sport and play — golf
  • Recreation — leisure — smoking
  • Landscape — building
  • Figure group — male
Object Number
1978.76.1
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1978.76.1

Artwork Description

Golf is from Paul Cadmus’s Aspects of Suburban Life series, which was commissioned by the Treasury Relief Art Project for a post office mural that was never completed. The paunchy golfers in this painting are more concerned with jawboning and smoking cigars than they are with perfecting their swings, and two of them appear preoccupied with the young, muscular caddy who waits to do their bidding. The caddy wears a poorer man’s clothes, and Cadmus included holes in the young man’s shoes to emphasize the distance between his social class and theirs.

Works by this artist (240 items)

View all artworks
Paul Cadmus, Night in Bologna, 1958, egg tempera on fiberboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1986.6.87
Night in Bologna
Artist
Date1958
egg tempera on fiberboard
On view
Paul Cadmus, Aspects of Suburban Life: Golf, 1936, oil and tempera on fiberboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Department of State, 1978.76.1
Aspects of Suburban Life: Golf
Artist
Date1936
oil and tempera on fiberboard
On view
Jared French, Margaret French, PaJaMa, Paul Cadmus, PaJaMa (Box A), ca. 1937, gelatin silver prints, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Margaret French, 1999.98.5.16
PaJaMa (Box A)
Artist
Dateca. 1937
gelatin silver prints
Not on view
Jared French, Margaret French, PaJaMa, Paul Cadmus, PaJaMa (Box A), ca. 1937, gelatin silver prints, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Margaret French, 1999.98.5.15
PaJaMa (Box A)
Artist
Dateca. 1937
gelatin silver prints
Not on view

More Artworks from the Collection

Browse All Artworks
Carl Newman, Spirit of Christmas, ca. 1915-1920, oil and tempera on fiberboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Anna McCleery Newton, 1971.88
Spirit of Christmas
Artist
Dateca. 1915-1920
oil and tempera on fiberboard
Not on view
Thomas Hart Benton, Achelous and Hercules, 1947, tempera and oil on canvas mounted on plywood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Allied Stores Corporation, and museum purchase through the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program, 1985.2
Achelous and Hercules
Artist
Date1947
tempera and oil on canvas mounted on plywood
On view
Victor Hugo Basinet, Don Francisco Avila House, Los Angeles, 1936, egg tempera and oil on plywood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the General Services Administration, 1979.10.2
Don Francisco Avila House, Los Angeles
Artist
Date1936
egg tempera and oil on plywood
Not on view
William Zorach, Untitled (mural study), ca. 1941-1943, oil, tempera and pencil on plywood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift from the collection of Tessim Zorach, 1968.154.87A
Untitled (mural study)
Artist
Dateca. 1941-1943
oil, tempera and pencil on plywood
Not on view