Sketch for the Mural at Oberlin College, "The Spirit of Self-Sacrificing Love"
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Object Details
- Artist
- Kenyon Cox, born Warren, OH 1856-died New York City 1919
- Luce Center Label
- In late 1913, Oberlin College commissioned Kenyon Cox to decorate the new administration building on the campus with a mural in memory of his father, Jacob Dolson Cox. The elder Cox had been governor of Ohio and secretary of the Interior under President Grant, and Cox designed a decorative tablet listing his father’s accomplishments for a small vestibule. After he completed the project, the administrators wanted Cox to come up with another design to complement it. He decided to include a tribute to his mother, Helen Finney Cox, who had made a name for herself in Ohio as a promoter of social work. This study shows Cox’s plan for a lunette titled “The Spirit of Self-Sacrificing Love,” based on what he described as his mother’s “Biblical charity.” Cox’s depiction of a laurel-crowned, winged figure holding a glowing torch pleased university administrators, who adopted it as the official seal on college publications. (Morgan, Kenyon Cox, 1856-1919: A Life in American Art, 1994)
- Credit Line
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Ambrose Lansing
- ca. 1914
- Object number
- 1983.114.15
- Restrictions & Rights
- CC0
- Type
- Painting
- Medium
- oil and pencil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 11 7/8 x 15 1/4 in. (30.2 x 38.8 cm.)
- See more items in
- Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
- Department
- Painting and Sculpture
- On View
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center, 4th Floor, 35B
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Luce Foundation Center, 4th Floor
- Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Topic
- Study
- Figure female\full length
- Fantasy\winged being
- Allegory\passion\love
- Object\art object\painting
- Record ID
- saam_1983.114.15
- Metadata Usage (text)
- CC0
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk75755ea81-0d38-4570-9d8f-17ff1ec959af
This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Open Access page.
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