Science Instructing Industry: Drapery Study
1898
Medium
Graphite on off-white laid paper mounted on secondary support of Egyptian linen
Dimensions
14 7/8 x 19 7/8 in. (37.8 x 50.5 cm)
Classification
Drawing
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Francis Lathrop Fund, 1950
Accession Number
50.101.3
Art Historical Context
Kenyon Cox's *Science Instructing Industry:rapery Study* (1898) offers a glimpse into the meticulous preparatory process behind one of the artist's grand mural projects celebrating America's industrial and intellectual progress during the Gilded Age. a leading figure in the American Renaissance, Cox championed classical idealism, drawing inspiration from Renaissance masters like Raphael to promote harmony between science, industry, and the human form. This graphite drawing likely served as a detailed study for his monumental mural of the same theme, symbolizing enlightenment guiding modern lab...
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...