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Lengthening Shadows by Kenyon Cox / American Art
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Lengthening Shadows

1888 Kenyon Cox Born: Warren, Ohio 1856 Died: New York, New York 1919 oil on canvas 15 1/4 x 30 1/4 in. (38.7 x 76.8 cm.) Smithsonian American Art Museum Gift of Mrs. Ambrose Lansing 1983.114.9 Smithsonian American Art Museum
3rd Floor, Luce Foundation Center



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Lengthening Shadows
from American Art staff



"I have no ability whatever to paint [landscape] except directly from nature." Kenyon Cox, quoted in Morgan, Kenyon Cox, 1856-1919: A Life in American Art, 1994


Kenyon Cox intended to make his career as a figural painter. In the 1880s, however, his father persuaded him to spend several months painting in Bellaire, Ohio, because he believed that landscapes would bring in more money for the young artist. In Lengthening Shadows, Cox positioned the viewer at the highest point in the scene to emphasize the gentle, grassy slopes of Ohio's rolling hills. (Morgan, Kenyon Cox, 1856-1919: A Life in American Art, 1994) The soft, golden tones of green and the long shadows suggest it was painted at dusk, just before the sun completely disappeared over the horizon.

Keywords

Landscape - phenomenon - light

Landscape - time - twilight

painting

paint - oil

fabric - canvas

About Kenyon Cox

Born: Warren, Ohio 1856 Died: New York, New York 1919

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Kenyon Cox

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