Colin Campbell Cooper Biography | Oil Painting Reproductions

Colin Campbell Cooper parents of English-Irish heritage were well-off and were supportive of his aspirations, encouraging him to become an artist. Colin had been inspired by the art on display when he went to see the Philadelphia Exposition of 1876.

In 1879, Colin Campbell Cooper enrolled in the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia and studied art for three years under realist painter Thomas Eakins. In 1886 he embarked on the first of his many travels, visiting the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. Afterward, his art instruction resumed at the Académie Julian in Paris from 1886 to 1890, with Henri Lucien Doucet, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, and Jules Joseph Lefebvre. He also studied at Académie Delécluse and Académie Vitti. Colin Campbell Cooper work at this time consisted of landscapes painted in a Barbizon style. He traveled throughout his life, sketching and painting scenes of Europe, Asia, and the United States in both watercolor and oils.

He spent his summers abroad, in the Dutch artist's colonies of Laren and Dordrecht in Holland. Among the other artists in Dordrecht now was renowned painter Emma Lampert from Rochester, New York. She and Cooper met and were soon married, in Rochester in 1897.

In 1898, the Coopers returned to Europe for a few years. During this period, as Cooper painted architectural landmarks, he built up the Impressionist style which he used for the rest of his life.

Cooper and his wife exhibited together in several two-person shows. They moved in 1904 to New York City, where he would stay until 1921. He said that the painting which first brought him great success was 1902's Broad Street, New York. Besides oil painting skyscrapers of New York City, he also did skyscrapers in Philadelphia and Chicago.

Colin Campbell Cooper's work of art Fifth Avenue, New York was purchased by the French government for the Musée du Luxembourg, which was a rare achievement for an American artist.

He and his wife were on board the RMS Carpathia during its rescue mission for the survivors from the sunken RMS Titanic on April 15, 1912. Colin Campbell Cooper assisted in the effort, and during the rescue operation, he created several paintings which document the events, such as Rescue Of The Survivors Of The Titanic By The Carpathia. The Coopers gave up their ship's cabin so some of the survivors would have berths to sleep in.

The Coopers in 1915 spent a pleasant winter in Los Angeles. This time in southern California was a key factor in Cooper's later choice to move there. He exhibited at the Panama - California Exposition in nearby San Diego in 1916. His wife died of tuberculosis in 1920. After his wife's death, Cooper moved to Santa Barbara, California the next year and stayed for the rest of his life

Art Movement: Impressionism.
Artists Influencing Colin Campbell Cooper: Henri Lucien Doucet, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Jules Joseph Lefebvre.
He Traveled To Netherlands, Belgium, France, Tunisia, Italy, Switzerland, USA.
Artist's Biography compiled by Albert L. Mansour at The World's Artist, with text adapted from Wikipedia.