Tradition1916
This painting demonstrates Cox's ideas about the importance in art of tradition and the classical spirit. More about this work
About this work
This painting demonstrates Cox's ideas about the importance in art of tradition and the classical spirit. Two figures in Grecian costumes, representing the arts of the past, pass on the eternal flame of tradition to two figures in Renaissance dress. Literature wears the laurel crown, and Painting holds the palette. Born in Warren, Ohio, Cox studied art in Cincinnati and at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. In 1877, he moved to Paris to study under Carolus Duran (1838-1917) and Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904). Five years later, Cox returned to New York where he established himself as a leader in the academic and conservative movement known as the American Renaissance. The artist achieved particular fame as a muralist; however by 1916, his health deteriorating, he turned his attention to paintings on canvas.
Text from the Cleveland Museum of Art.
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 Cleveland Museum of Art 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
- 1917.9
- Credit
- Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
- Type
- Painting
- Department
- American Painting and Sculpture
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
