Echo

Kenyon Cox, Echo, 1892, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Ambrose Lansing, 1983.114.1
Copied Kenyon Cox, Echo, 1892, oil on canvas, 35 3⁄4 x 29 3⁄4 in. (90.8 x 75.7 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Ambrose Lansing, 1983.114.1
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
Echo
Artist
Date
1892
Location
Dimensions
35 3⁄4 x 29 3⁄4 in. (90.8 x 75.7 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Ambrose Lansing
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Keywords
  • Landscape
  • Allegory
  • Figure female — nude
  • Figure female — full length
  • Mythology — classical — nymph
  • Mythology — classical — Echo
Object Number
1983.114.1
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1983.114.1

Artwork Description

Kenyon Cox’s image of the classical nymph Echo is from a series of poetic paintings set in the green fields of New Hampshire. Although Renaissance nudes inspired these paintings, Cox updated his versions of the theme. Here, for example, he did not smooth the model’s dimpled flesh or frizzy hair, making her more natural and less idealized. The female nude was Cox’s favorite subject, despite his mother’s objections. When she complained to him that such paintings were “not pleasing,” he responded adamantly: “It is just such a feeling that makes great art impossible in this country . . . The nude is pure.” (Morgan, Kenyon Cox, 1856-1919: A Life in American Art, 1994)