1916
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Tradition is a 1916 unspecified by Kenyon Cox, a American Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see two pairs of figures in this painting. They are dressed in different costumes, one pair in Grecian and the other in Renaissance style. The figures represent the passing of tradition from the past to the present. The Grecian pair hands a flame to the Renaissance pair, showing the continuity of art. This detail is interesting because it highlights the artist's idea of tradition in art. Check out the work of artist: Kenyon Cox (American, 1856–1919) for more on this style.
This painting demonstrates Cox's ideas about the importance in art of tradition and the classical spirit. Two figures in Grecian costumes, representing the arts of the past, pass on the eternal flame of tradition to two figures in Renaissance dress. Literature wears the laurel crown, and Painting holds the palette. Born in Warren, Ohio, Cox studied art in Cincinnati and at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. In 1877, he moved to Paris to study under Carolus Duran (1838-1917) and Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824-1904). Five years later, Cox returned to New York where he established…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Kenyon Cox was an American painter, illustrator, muralist, writer, and teacher. Cox was an influential and important early instructor at the Art Students League of New York. He was the designer of the League's logo,…
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