Alternate Views

Gray and Gold

1942

John Rogers Cox

(American, 1915-1990)

America, 20th century

Oil on canvas

Framed: 116 x 152 x 12.5 cm (45 11/16 x 59 13/16 x 4 15/16 in.); Unframed: 91.5 x 151.8 cm (36 x 59 3/4 in.)

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1943.60

Location

226B American Modern

Fun Fact

This painting’s rustic frame salvages beetle-damaged wood caused by the devastating early 20th-century Chestnut blight.

Description

Cox painted Gray and Gold shortly after the United States joined the Second World War, and its image of amber waves of grain threatened by ominous storm clouds likely has symbolic overtones. The painting's foreground features an intersection of two dirt lanes, as well as a telephone pole emblazoned with political campaign posters. The artist seems to imply that American democracy is at a crossroads during this time of combat against the spread of fascism in Europe and Asia. Interestingly the work was inspired by the landscape around Cox's hometown of Terre Haute, Indiana, a location nicknamed "The Crossroads of America" due to the junction of major north-south and east-west national highways within its city limits. The museum purchased this painting out of a traveling exhibition entitled "Artists for Victory," which consisted of works by artists who wanted to assist in the war effort. The exhibition opened at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York on the first anniversary of the bombing at Pearl Harbor.

Inscriptions

Inscription

signed lower right: John Rogers Cox 1942

Provenance

1942 -1943

(Artists for Victory, Inc., 1942-1943 exhibition, New York, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) ¹

1943-

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Provenance Footnotes

¹Purchased with income from the Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund, from Artists for Victory, Inc. The Artists for Victory exhibition, held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, was also mounted at the Cleveland Museum of Art, in 1943.

Provenance Citations

Artists for Victory: An Exhibition of Contemporary American Art, Paintings, Sculpture, Prints. 2 vols. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1942.

Exhibition history

Toronto, Art Gallery of Toronto (February 1945).

Terre Haute, Indiana, Sheldon Swope Art Gallery (May 1945).

Columbus, OH, Columbus Museum of Art, Illusions of Eden: Visions of the American Heartland (18 February - 30 April 2000) cat. ill. cover, pp. 94, 186, p. 271 ; traveled to Vienna, Austria, Museum of Modern Art/Ludwig Foundation Vienna (1 June - 15 August 2000); traveled to Budapest, Hungary, Ludwig Museum/Museum of Contemporary Art (25 September - 26 November 2000); did not travel to Madison, Wisconsin, Madison Art Center (24 February - 13 May 2001); did not travel to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Washington Pavilion of Arts & Science (June - August 2001).

The Cleveland Museum of Art (03/01/2006 - 06/01/2006); "American Icons: American Masterworks from the 1930s"

Artists for Victory. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (co-organizer) (January 1-February 22, 1943).

54th Annual Exhibition of American Paintings and Sculpture. The Art Institute of Chicago (organizer) (October 28-December 12, 1943).

Painting in the United States, 1944. Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA (organizer) (co-organizer) (September 5-December 10, 1944).

Contemporary American Painting. Rhode Island School of Design (organizer) (February 6-28, 1946).

Museum's Choice. Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA (organizer) (March 8-April 30, 1946).

The 50 Most Popular Paintings in the History of American Art. The Dallas Museum of Art (organizer) (October 9-November 7, 1948).

Life in America. Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO (organizer) (co-organizer) (March 4-April 30, 1951).

Centennial Exhibition. Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, NE (organizer) (co-organizer) (May 11-July 4, 1954).

Illusion and Reality. Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA (organizer) (co-organizer) (June 15-July 22, 1956); Pasadena Museum of California Art (August 5-September 9, 1956); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX (October 5-31, 1956); The Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX (October 31-November 30, 1956).

20th Anniversary Special Exhibition: 60 Terre Haute Artists. Sheldon Swope Art Museum Inc., Terra Haute, IN (organizer) (November 4-December 2, 1962).

An Unfulfilled Dream: The Neglected Generation of American Scene Painters: 1930-1948. Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, KS (organizer) (May 2-June 14, 1981).

A Retrospective Exhibition of the Art of John Rogers Cox. Sheldon Swope Art Museum Inc., Terra Haute, IN (organizer) (May 14-June 13, 1982).

Illusions of Eden: Visions of the American Heartland. Columbus Museum of Art (organizer) (February 18-April 30, 2000).

Cite this page

{{cite web |title=Gray and Gold |url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1943.60 |author=John Rogers Cox |year=1942 |access-date=22 March 2019 |publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Gray and Gold

Gray and Gold

John Rogers Cox

America, 20th century

Location

Fun Fact

Description

Inscription

Provenance Footnotes

Provenance Citations

Contact us