Design for United States Currency (1912): Art, History and Details

Design for United States Currency (1912) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Kenyon Cox (American, 1856–1919).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The painter and muralist Kenyon Cox viewed himself as the heir to the great traditions of the Italian Renaissance and vigorously led the resistance to all forms of modern painting. This design for U. S. currency, which was rejected by the government, shows the care with which he planned his compositions. Cox's son, Allyn, who also became a successful mural painter, posed for the male figure. Cox's brother, J. D. Cox, a prominent civic leader in Cleveland, played an active role in the formation of the Cleveland Museum of Art. He gave the museum the three works by his brother that are in this exhibition.

Object facts

• Title: Design for United States Currency
• Date: 1912
• Creator attribution: Kenyon Cox (American, 1856–1919)
• Culture: America
• Type: Drawing
• Technique: graphite
• Dimensions: Image: 15.9 x 37.8 cm (6 1/4 x 14 7/8 in.); Sheet: 30.3 x 50.8 cm (11 15/16 x 20 in.)
• Collection: DR - American 20th Century
• Department: Drawings
• Accession number: 1916.1069

Collection credit

Gift of J. D. Cox

Further reading listed by the museum

• "Accessions." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 4, no. 2 (1917): 26-37.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.