(Iowa State Capitol Rotunda) (Science, study for panel)
ca. 1905
Medium
Drawing
Classification
Drawing
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Allyn Cox
Accession Number
1959.10.17
Tags
Art Historical Context
Kenyon Cox, a American muralist and proponent of the Beaux-Ar style, created this drawing around 1905 as a preparatory for a panel in the Iowa State Capitol Rot. Cox was part of the early 20th-century mural renaissance, where artists adorned public buildings with allegorical figures symbolizing civic virtues and progress. Here, the figure of "Science" embodies enlightenment and discovery, reflecting the era's optimism about human advancement amid industrialization and scientific breakthroughs. As a drawing—a medium Cox favored for its precision and fluidity—this study reveals the artist's met...
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...