Kenyon and Louise Cox papers, 1876-1977

Collection Information

Size: 0.3 Linear feet

Summary: The papers of Kenyon and Louise Cox measure 0.3 linear feet and date from 1876 to 1977. Included are Kenyon and Louise's Certificate of Marriage, autobiographical notes by Louise focusing on her time at the National Academy of Design, writings, and correspondence, primarily from Kenyon Cox, including several illustrated letters. Also found is artwork by Kenyon and others, including Julian Alden Weir, biographical material on Jacob Dolson Cox, Keyon's Father, photographs and printed reproductions of artwork, magazine and newspaper clippings, an unpublished bibliography on Kenyon Cox, and a handwritten list of Kenyon Cox paintings in the National Academy of Design permanent collection.

Biographical/Historical Note

Kenyon Cox was a prominent American painter, lecturer, and art critic. He was born in 1856, in Warren, Ohio, and he studied painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and in Paris, where he befriended artist Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Cox returned to the United States and made a living illustrating magazines and books, and teaching at the Art Students League in New York. In 1892 he married his student Louise Howland King, born in San Francisco in 1865. Together they became prominent painters and were responsible for the murals that decorated the Liberal Arts Building at the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago. During his career, Cox contributed articles and essays on art subjects to various magazines. He was a member of the Society of American Artists, the National Academy of Design, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Kenyon Cox died in 1919 and Louise in 1945. Their son, Allyn, born in 1896, became a successful muralist.

Provenance

The collection was donated by Charles E. Feinberg, 1955-1968, the National Museum of American Art in 1967 and 1984, and the Cooper Hewitt Museum in 1983. The material was microfilmed upon receipt as two separate manuscript collections.

Related Materials

Also found in the Archives of American Art are the Allyn Cox papers, 1870-1982. His papers contain correspondence, biographies, photographs, sketchbooks, writings, and printed material, some of it relating to his father, Kenyon Cox.

Language Note

English .

Digitization Note

The papers of Kenyon and Louise Cox were digitized in 2007 by the Archives of American Art. The papers have been scanned in their entirety, and total 168 images.

Funding Note

Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art.