# Tradition

**Kenyon Cox** (American, 1856–1919)  
1916  
oil on canvas  
Unframed: 106 x 165.5 cm (41 3/4 x 65 3/16 in.)

Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1917.9. [The museum's record](https://clevelandart.org/art/1917.9).

## 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._

Kenyon Cox painted this in 1916, aged 60. It is now at 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](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/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._

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- Culture: America
- The artist was 60
- Real size: about 42 × 65 in (106 × 166 cm). The original is larger than our largest print, 18 × 24 in, so every print is a reduction.
- Century: 20th century
- Colour: olive
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/493.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/493/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/tradition-cma-98215).