Oil and egg tempera on panel 63,5 x 100,3 cm (25" x 39" 1/2) USA - NY - New York - Whitney Museum of American Art This painting is set in Manhattan's Riverside Park, near a monument called the Sailors and Soldiers Memorial. The frame is also painted. Notice that the sailors here aren't really paying attention to the floozies. Generally, Cadmus, whenever there is heterosexual pairing in his paintings, something goes wrong. What he seems more interested in is a certain homoeroticism. Some critics were upset by this image when it was first shown. They called it tawdry, repulsive, unpatriotic. Ironically, it wasn't the homoerotic content per se that caused the controversy - rather, critics were offended by the depiction of Navy sailors drunk and carousing on the eve of World War II. Paul Cadmus replied to them, "I think the picture portrays an enjoyable side of Navy life. I think it would make a good recruiting poster."