Science Instructing Industry: Drapery Study

Kenyon Cox

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Cox created multiple preparatory studies for his oil painting Science Instructing Industry (1898; Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland) (see also 50.101.1 and 50.101.2). Committed to precision, the painter used a grid system to ensure that the composition was properly proportioned, an important skill he developed during his student years at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. In this specific study, Cox carefully mapped out every wrinkle and fold of the fabric, emulating the example of classical Greek sculpture. Like other painters associated with the American Renaissance, Cox contrived to let the female form assume various allegorical guises by simply changing the props, setting, or title according to the requirements of a project.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art