Study for Drapery of "Pursuit of the Ideal"
1891
Medium
Painting
Classification
Painting
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Ambrose Lansing
Accession Number
1983.114.19
Tags
About this artwork
Kenyon Cox was known for his masterful execution of paintings and public murals. He meticulously planned every detail of a work and created several sketches and studies before its final execution. Study for Drapery of "Pursuit of the Ideal" illustrates one of the numerous steps in his artistic process. The white drapery covers the lower half of a barely sketched woman. The dramatic folds in the fabric help show the contours of the figure, for which Cox would have created separate studies. The fi...
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...