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Catalog Data

Creator:
Cox, Allyn, 1896-1982  Search this
Subject:
Bishop, Warner  Search this
Bayley, John Barrington  Search this
Conrad, Arthur  Search this
Cassio, Fabrizio  Search this
Cox, Louise Howland King  Search this
Cox, Kenyon  Search this
Frost, Stuart  Search this
DeWitt, Roscoe  Search this
Shutze, Philip Trammell  Search this
Schwengel, Fred  Search this
Lay, Charles Downing  Search this
Laning, Edward  Search this
Harbeson, John F. (John Frederick)  Search this
Keller, Deane  Search this
Keally, Francis  Search this
Lamb, Adrian  Search this
Young, Clifford  Search this
MacDonald, Pirie  Search this
Cox, Ethel  Search this
National Society of Mural Painters (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Park Club of Kalamazoo  Search this
Smithsonian Institution  Search this
United States Capitol Historical Society  Search this
American Battle Monuments Commission  Search this
Art Students League (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Art Commission of the City of New York  Search this
Century Association (New York, N.Y.)  Search this
Cosmos Club (Washington, D.C.)  Search this
Dumbarton Oaks  Search this
George Washington Masonic National Memorial (Alexandria, Va.)  Search this
Type:
Interviews
Diaries
Sketchbooks
Sketches
Place of publication, production, or execution:
United States
Physical Description:
11 Linear feet
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged as 7 series. Glass plate negatives are housed separately and are closed to researchers. Series 1: Biographical Material, 1916-1982 (0.33 linear feet; Boxes 1, 12) Series 2: Correspondence, 1878-1982 (6.74 linear feet; Boxes 1-7, 12) Series 3: Writings and Notes, 1919-1982 (0.58 linear feet; Boxes 7-8) Series 4: Research Files, circa 1950s-circa 1970s (0.25 linear feet; Box 8) Series 5: Printed Material, 1920s-1982 (0.5 linear feet; Boxes 8-9) Series 6: Sketchbooks and Sketches, 1873-circa 1978 (0.25 linear feet; Box 9, OVs 13-14) Series 7: Photographs, 1856-circa 1980 (2.25 linear feet; Boxes 9-12, OV 13)
Access Note / Rights:
Use of original papers requires an appointment and is limited to the Archives' Washington, D.C. Research Center. Contact Reference Services for more information. Glass plate negatives are housed separately and are not served to researchers. Use of archival audiovisual recordings with no duplicate access copy requires advance notice.
Summary:
The papers of New York, N.Y., and Washington, D.C. painter and muralist Allyn Cox measure 11 linear feet and date from 1856-1982. The collection documents Cox's personal and professional life through biographical material, family and general correspondence, writings and notes, research material, printed material, sketchbooks and loose sketches, and photographs. Photographs are of Cox at work, the Cox family, including Kenyon and Louise Cox, Cox's friends and colleagues, events, and Cox's artwork.
Citation:
Allyn Cox papers, 1856-1982. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Additional Forms:
Portions of the collection are available on 35 mm microfilm reels N69-9 to N69-18, 3108-3115, and 3976 at the Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan. Researchers should note that the arrangement of the material described in the container inventory does not reflect the arrangement of the collection on microfilm.
Funding:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art. Glass plate negatives in this collection were digitized in 2019 with funding provided by the Smithsonian Women's Committee.
Use Note:
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Related Materials:
Also found in the Archives of American Art are the Allyn Cox papers relating to U.S. Capitol murals, 1970-1974, donated by the Committee on House Administration, via Cindy Szady in 1981. Papers include a resume; a cost estimate by Cox for designing and executing mural decorations in the U.S. Capitol, 1970; a letter, 1974, from the Office of the Architect of the Capitol to the Capitol Historical Society enclosing photocopies of printed material pertinent to the unveiling and dedication of the Capitol rotunda frieze in 1954; miscellaneous printed material, 1971-1974; and 15 photographs of the murals in the Capitol.
Biography Note:
New York, N.Y. and Washington, D.C. painter and muralist, Allyn Cox (1896-1982), was born in New York City to artists Kenyon and Louise Cox. Cox first trained as his father's assistant, serving as an apprentice to Kenyon Cox during the painting of the murals at the Wisconsin State Capitol, circa 1912. He attended the National Academy of Design from 1910-1915, and the Art Student's League with George Bridgman in 1915. In 1916 he was awarded the Prix de Rome and subsequently studied at the American Academy in Rome for 2 years before returning to New York City to begin a career in mural painting.
Cox completed numerous murals and decorative paintings for private residences, businesses, churches, and public buildings. Some of his most famous commissions included murals for the Royal Arch Room and Memorial Hall of the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia; the Law School at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville; and the William A. Clark Memorial Library at the University of California, Los Angeles; panels for the National City Bank, the Continental Bank, and the Guaranty Trust Company in New York; and glass mosaics and inlaid stone maps for the United States Military Cemetery in Hamm, Luxembourg.
Cox is best known for his work in the United States Capitol, beginning in 1952 when he undertook a congressional commission to restore and complete the murals in in the Capitol rotunda begun by Constantino Brumidi and Filipo Costaggini in 1878. Over the course of the next two decades Cox, now residing in Washington, D.C., restored the Frieze of American History and the Apotheosis of Washington in the Rotunda, and designed murals for three first-floor corridors in the Capitol's House wing, now known as the Cox Corridors. Assisted by Cliff Young, Cox completed painting for two of these corridors before his death. In 1958 Cox also painted a portrait of Henry Clay for the Senate Reception Room and in 1975 completed a mural depicting the 1969 moon landing in the Brumidi Corridor.
Cox taught at the Art Students League in 1940 and 1941, and was active in professional organizations throughout his career. He served as President of the American Artists Professional League and the National Society of Mural Painters, and Vice President of both the Fine Arts Federation and the New York Architectural League. He was a member of the board of the New York Municipal Art Society and served on the the New York City Art Commission.
Cox retired in March 1982 at the age of 86 and died the following September.
Language Note:
Collection is in English.
Provenance:
The bulk of the Allyn Cox papers was donated in 1977 and 1983 by the Estate of Allyn Cox, Stephen M. Pulsifer, Exectuor, including material that had been loaned for microfiliming in 1969. Two mural sketches were donated by the Essex County Greenbelt Association in 1984.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
Topic:
Painters -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Muralists -- Washington (D.C.)  Search this
Muralists -- New York (State) -- New York  Search this
Theme:
Diaries  Search this
Lives of artists  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)9398
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)211595
AAA_collcode_coxally
Theme:
Diaries
Lives of artists
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_211595