Insomnia

This study by American illustrator Kenyon Cox depicts a figure tormented by sleeplessness, a common subject in late-nineteenth-century advertising art. The drawing's fluid line work and dynamic composition—with the agitated sleeper contrasted against the looming specter of insomnia—exemplify the expressive techniques advertisers employed to convey psychological states. Created for Paine's Celery Compound, a patent medicine marketed as a nerve tonic, the image exploits period anxieties about modern life's exhausting pace. Cox's skilled draftsmanship and theatrical gesture capture the desperation meant to convince viewers that the product offered relief from this affliction.