Ms. Eileen S. Ewing

Joe Cox was born May 4, 1915, in Indianapolis, where he attended the John Herron Art School. He earned a master’s degree at the University of Iowa before serving as a Navy pilot during World War II. A prolific artist, Professor Cox began his career in the 1930s as a realist, in the tradition of Midwesterner Thomas Hart Benton. Later, he was influenced by cubist painters, including Pablo Picasso. When he came to North Carolina, he was drawn to the ocean, painting docks, boats and fishing nets. He was one of North Carolina’s most influential modern artists, best known for his geometric acrylic paintings of the North
Carolina coast.

He came to the six-year-old School of Design at NC State College (now NC State University) after teaching stints at the University of Iowa, Tennessee and Florida. A professor at the School of Design from 1954 to 1980, Professor Cox taught scores of art students. Many maintained close contact with him, and remember him as an inspiration — patient, nonjudgmental, and encouraging. In 1993, he received the North Carolina Award in Fine Arts. Professor Cox continued to paint in watercolors as he battled Parkinson’s disease for the last 17 years of his life. When his health deteriorated, he found a new way to express his creativity by painting smaller works — in watercolor and on thick paper, while sitting down. Professor Cox faced his illness with grace. He died on August 12, 1997.