Study of a Baby

Louise Howland King Cox's pen sketch captures an infant in repose with economic line work and careful anatomical observation. The artist employs light cross-hatching to suggest volume and form, techniques common to illustrators of the period. Cox was among the first generation of American women artists to work professionally in commercial illustration, a field expanding rapidly alongside the growth of newspapers and magazines in the 1890s. Such studies served as reference material for broader editorial and commercial work, demonstrating how artists developed visual literacy through careful observation and practice.