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Tradition
by Kenyon Cox
About the Artwork
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 himself as a leader in the academic and conservative movement known as the American Renaissance. The artist achieved particular fame as a muralist; however by 1916, his health deteriorating, he turned his attention to paintings on canvas.
Inscriptions
signed lower left: KENYON COX--1916-
Provenance
artist's brother.
Exhibition history
Exhibition of American Painting from 1860 Until Today. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-October 4, 1937). Paintings by Ohio Artists. Akron Art Museum, Akron, OH (organizer) (November 28, 1967-January 14, 1968). Cleveland Collects American Art of the Gilded Age. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 23-May 18, 2003).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Kenyon Cox (American, 1856–1919)
- Date
- 1916
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Unframed: 106 x 165.5 cm (41 3/4 x 65 3/16 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- American Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Gift of J. D. Cox
- Accession no.
- 1917.9
More by Kenyon Cox in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00009872
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