Study for mosaic in the Wisconsin State Capital "Government and Liberty"ca. 1912
Kenyon Cox painted this in about 1912, aged 56. It is now at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC. More about this work
About this work
Kenyon Cox painted this in about 1912, aged 56. It is now at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC.
How it was made
- Oil paint
- Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.
Kenyon Cox
American, 1856–1919
Cox trained in Cincinnati, Philadelphia and Paris, where he studied with Carolus-Duran and Jean-Léon Gérôme, before settling in New York in 1883. He taught for years at the Art Students League and became a leading muralist of the American Renaissance, decorating the Library of Congress and state capitols with allegorical figures. A forceful critic, he defended the classical tradition against modernism, most notably after the 1913 Armory Show.
Written by Ochre Editions.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The Smithsonian American Art Museum has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 1983.114.11
- Credit
- Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Type
- Painting
- Department
- Painting and Sculpture
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
Report this work
More by Kenyon Cox
All their works
Close in colour
