52 Artists Magazine December 2019
formeda singingtrio,knownastheKnoxSisters.Hiswife,
Lola, wasoftenindialysisforkidneyfailure.Ononewinter
weekendwhenColedidn’tfeeluptotravelingtohishomein
Philadelphia,hisdaughtersdrovetoArlingtontogethim.
Theartisticinclinationraninhisfamily.NancyKnox,
Cole’ssecond-oldestdaughter,toldmethat,asa child,
inspiredbyhisolderartistbrotherNorman,herfather
begandrawingwithbrokenpiecesofplaster.WhenCole
was 10hestretcheda canvasoveranoldwindowframe
and madea pictureofa doll.Fourofhisdaughtersandone
son becameself-taughtartists.HisdaughterJuanitawon
an artcompetitionwhileshewasinhighschool.An Inspired Artist
I wasespeciallytakenwithCole’sportraits,through
whichheseemedtoreachthesoulofthosehepainted.He
frequentlysurroundedthefigureswithshadowsorlines,
oftenconcentric,whichhecalled“rhythms.”Theysuggest
movementandhavetheeffectofgivingthefigurea haloor
glow. Tome,it wasclearhelovedthepeoplehepainted.“I VIED WITH OTHER WORKERS TO BUY HIS PAINTINGS
RIGHT OFF THE WALLS OF HIS OFFICE. COLE LAUGHED AT
US: ‘PEOPLE ARE GETTING GREEDY. I HAVE TO SAY, YOU
CAN’T HAVE THIS ONE. YOU ALREADY BOUGHT ONE.’”
The faces of his portraits expressed
the emotions of the subject. Note, for
example, the fear in the face of the
young woman depicted in Engagement
(page 55). She holds an engagement
ring close to her lips, as she looks
askance to the side. The shadow
behind her could be one of Cole’s
rhythms, or perhaps it suggests the
figure of her fiancé, whose presence
overpowers her.
When Street Girl (page 49) was
on view at the Davis Museum at
Wellesley College, in 2018, Deborah
Brown wrote in the web-based news-
letter The Swellesley Report, “Somehow
Knox shows us this young woman
when she’s young and when she’s
decades older, all in the same paint-
ing.” I see in the figure a mixture of
qualities: strength and vulnerability.LEFT TO RIGHT
Sugar Cane
acrylic on linen 32x29Flute Player
watercolor on paper,
13x10Caribbean Vendor
acrylic on linen,
39 ½ x23½