Artist and Public and Other Essays on Art Subjects

Kenyon Cox (1856-1919) was an American painter, illustrator, muralist, writer, teacher. In 1877 Cox moved to Paris. There he studied under Carolus-Duran and Jean-Leon Gerome and then at the Ecole des Beaux- Arts. In 1882 he left Paris and moved to New York where he continued to paint. He also began to do many illustrations. Kenyon became well established as a magazine illustrator. His illustrations reached a much wider audience than did his paintings. He also began to write art criticisms (unsigned) for the New York Evening Post. He advocated careful drawing and modulated color, and he frequently used allegory and symbolism to present his ideas. He painted in the realistic manner and earned a reputation for landscapes, portraits and genre studies. Cox also began to write more articles and became an art critic for numerous magazines in New York including The Nation, Century and Scribners. His works include: Artist and Public and Other Essays on Art Subjects (1914).