Curator, Samantha Friedman: Paul Cadmus had a studio in Greenwich Village, and he would often visit this cafeteria, Stewart's, that's depicted in this raucous, rollicking painting.
Curator, Jodi Hauptman: ...the chatter, the way the bodies are intersecting and aligned...
Samantha Friedman: ...all types of people gathering, these downtown denizens
Jodi Hauptman: They're talking, they're laughing, they’re maybe insulting each other or complimenting each other, especially the two figures where the woman has these dark red circles on her cheeks, and bright red lipstick, and the man that she's with is both admiring her and seems to be yelling at her at the same time.
Samantha Friedman: And on the right-hand side of the painting you see a much suaver gentleman, who is opening the door to the men's restroom, and looking out provocatively towards the viewer. He's in a suit. He has a ring on his hand. And this is a coded reference to the homosexual activity that would have been occurring at a place like Stewart's, and which would have been part of the world of Paul Cadmus and Lincoln Kirstein.