Kenyon Cox

Bronze plaque of Kenyon Cox by Augustus Saint-Gaudens
Kenyon Cox
Bronze plaque of Kenyon Cox by Augustus Saint-Gaudens

Kenyon Cox

American painter, 1856–1919
BiographyKenyon Cox was a leading academic painter and muralist, as well as an active writer and longtime instructor at the Art Students League in New York. Born in Warren, Ohio, Cox studied at the Art Academy of Cincinnati and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. In 1877 he traveled to Paris, as many ambitious American art students did in the last quarter of the 19th century. He studied privately with Carolus-Duran, before entering the École des Beaux-Arts to work under Jean-Léon Gérôme and Alexandre Cabanel. While in Europe, he traveled to Italy to see the masterpieces of Renaissance art. Cox moved to New York in 1882, where he worked as an illustrator and an art critic before joining the faculty of the Art Students League. As a teacher, he stressed the importance of careful drawing and modulated color. In the 1890s, Cox became a successful mural painter. Cox continued to write and teach, setting himself against the modern art emerging in the early 20th century.
Person TypeIndividual
Terms
  • artists
  • male