Portrait of Louise King Cox

Kenyon Cox's sketch depicts his wife, Louise King Cox, in profile wearing an elaborate feathered hat typical of 1890s millinery fashion. The drawing combines careful linear rendering of facial features with loose, gestural hatching to model the hat's volume and texture. Cox, a prominent muralist and academic painter, created numerous portrait studies that demonstrated both his classical training and his ability to capture personality through economical means. This sketch exemplifies the preparatory work that preceded his finished paintings and reveals the artist's practiced hand in capturing likeness and character through simple but assured draftsmanship.