Gray And Gold By John Rogers Cox

Blue and Gray Review: First Draft by Todd Mosier

It's often said that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. Sometimes, finding that beauty requires looking deeply beneath the surface. Never before has this sentiment seemed so relevant as when one first observes Gray and Gold by John Rogers Cox. Gray and Gold by John Rogers Cox, currently hanging in the Cleveland Museum of Art in Cleveland, Ohio, is nestled unassumingly in the American Modern section of the museum, and even just a quick glance can confirm that this painting has earned its home. This is America on canvas. The painting depicts Cox’s view of the pastures and harvest lands surrounding the time and place he called home, Terra Haute, Indiana in the 1940’s. Despite this, the painting could very easily represent just about anywhere and anytime across the American Prairie.
Initially, one’s eyes are strongly drawn to the stark contrast above and below the horizon. Below, brightly colored golden wheat, endless in scope and divided only by intersecting dirt roads, comprise half of the painting. Telephone poles lining the road provide us a sense of time. Above the horizon, intimidating dark storm clouds completely fill the sky, adding a sense of dread to what otherwise may have been viewed as a subtle patriotic look at American life, in simpler