Study for Mural for Appellate Court Building, New York; Statute Law”, Helmet for Figure of Force”

Kenyon Cox, Study for Mural for Appellate Court Building, New York; "Statute Law", Helmet for Figure of "Force", ca. 1899, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Ambrose Lansing, 1983.114.4
Copied Kenyon Cox, Study for Mural for Appellate Court Building, New York; "Statute Law", Helmet for Figure of "Force", ca. 1899, oil on canvas, 1713 78 in. (43.235.3 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Ambrose Lansing, 1983.114.4
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Artwork Details

Title
Study for Mural for Appellate Court Building, New York; Statute Law”, Helmet for Figure of Force”
Artist
Date
ca. 1899
Dimensions
1713 78 in. (43.235.3 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Ambrose Lansing
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Keywords
  • Cityscape — New York — New York
  • Dress — historic — classical dress
  • Study
  • Figure female — bust
  • Dress — accessory — helmet
  • Allegory — quality — fortitude
  • Architecture Interior — civic — Appellate Court Building
Object Number
1983.114.4

Artwork Description

At the turn of the twentieth century, American artists decorated important public buildings with colorful and theatrical murals, images that were meant to enhance architectural spaces and impart lessons of good taste and moral values. In 1898 the National Society of Mural Painters nominated Kenyon Cox and nine other members to create murals for the new state appellate court building in New York City. The space given to Cox was the most challenging: Only four feet high and thirty-five feet long, it had two smaller, angled areas at each end. He chose to paint allegorical figures symbolizing the principles of law. This study for the figure of Force shows a woman wearing a helmet and looking out with a formidable expression; it is the kind of detailed sketch Cox made of each figure before beginning the mural. (Morgan, Kenyon Cox, 1856-1919: A Life in American Art, 1994)

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