Background
Cox was born in the Hague, Netherlands, on August 27, 1919.
Cox was born in the Hague, Netherlands, on August 27, 1919.
Jan Cox helped found the "Jeune Peinture Belge" group in 1945. By the end of that decade, Cox became associated with the CoBrA movement, publishing some of his artworks in the CoBrA magazine.
In 1950 he came to New York to fulfil his dreams of becoming a famous painter. He exhibited his paintings in New York at Curt Valentine's gallery and then Catherine Viviano's. Then after a brief stay in Rome, he moved back to the United States in 1956, becoming head of the Painting Department at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University. There he produced his first important painting cycle based on the myth of Orpheus.
In 1974 he returned to Belgium, to live in Antwerp, and devote himself entirely to painting. In 1975 created his monumental series based on Homer's Iliad. This cycle of paintings was his catharsis of violence, expression of disappointment he had previously experienced in modern society. Several of his artworks were abstract, although some of his major successes were with (partly) figurative work.
Jan Cox was an exceptional and influential post-war painter. Cox's works have been offered at auction multiple times, with realized prices ranging from $199 USD to $15,181 USD.
The current record price for Cox at auction is $15,181 USD for "De bespotting - The Mocking". The painting was sold at De Vuyst in 2014.
Jan Cox was sure that the technical abilities of a painter were of minor importance for the quality of the painting that resulted. He believed all technique an artist needed for the creation of paintings could be learnt in a few months, the rest depended on the painter's creativity.
Physical Characteristics: Jan Cox was psychically hyper-sensitive. He suffered from recurrent depression all his life, which eventually led to his suicide.
