Flying Shadows
1883
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 76.2 × 92.08 cm (30 × 36 1/4 in.) framed: 101.92 × 118.11 × 4.29 cm (40 1/8 × 46 1/2 × 1 11/16 in.)
Classification
Painting
Department
CAB
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Corcoran Collection (Museum Purchase, Gallery Fund)
Accession Number
2015.19.13
Art Historical Context
**Flying Shadows** (1883) by Kenyon Cox is a captivating oil on canvas painting measuring 30 × 36¼ inches, now housed in the National Gallery of Art as part of the Corcoran Collection. Created early in Cox's career, work showcases two graceful female figures bathed in dappled sunlight within a serene landscape. The title cleverly refers to the fleeting shadows cast by birds soaring overhead, evoking a of ephemeral beauty and the dance of light. Kenyon Cox (1856–1919), an influential American painter, muralist, and art theorist, trained in Cincinnati and Paris during the late 1870s and early 1...
About the Artist
Kenyon Cox · 1856–1919
Kenyon Cox (1856–1919) was born on October 27 in Warren, Ohio, to General Jacob Dolson Cox, a prominent politician and Civil War veteran, and Helen Finney Cox. Despite fragile health, young Cox pursued art at the Art Academy of Cincinnati before advancing to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. In 1877, he traveled to Paris, studying first under Carolus-Duran, then at the Éco...