Colin Campbell Cooper, Jr. (1856–1937) 

Born in Philadelphia, PA into a well-to-do family of English-Irish heritage, Colin Campbell Cooper was an American Impressionist painter; perhaps most renowned for his architectural paintings, especially of skyscrapers in New York City, Philadelphia, and Chicago. An avid traveler, he was also recognized for his paintings of European and Asian landmarks, as well as natural landscapes, portraits, florals, and interiors. Cooper also taught and wrote. His first wife, Emma Lampert Cooper, was also a highly regarded painter. Both of his parents were highly supportive of his ambitions, encouraging him to become an artist.

In 1879, Cooper enrolled in the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, studying under famed – at the time, controversial – realist painter Thomas Eakins for three years.

In 1886, Cooper embarked on the first of his many travels to foreign lands, visiting the Netherlands, Belgium and Brittany. He resumed his art education at the Académie Julian in Paris from 1886 to 1890, with Henri Lucien Doucet, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, and Jules Joseph Lefebvre. He further studied at Académie Delécluse and Académie Vitti. Cooper traveled extensively throughout his life, sketching and painting scenes of Europe, Asia, and the United States in watercolors and oils.

SelectedCollections

Brooklyn Museum of Art

Cincinnati Museum of Art

Crocker Art Museum (Sacramento, California)

Dallas Museum of Art

Fleischer Museum (Scottsdale, Arizona)

Irvine Museum (Irvine, California)

Jersey City Museum (Jersey City, New Jersey)

Lowe Art Museum, (Coral Gables, Florida)

Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City)

Musée du Luxembourg (Paris, France)

Museum of the National Academy of Design (New York City)

National Arts Club (New York, NY)

National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution (Washington, DC)

National Museum of Wildlife Art (Jackson Hole, Wyoming)

New York Historical Society

Norton Museum of Art (West Palm Beach, Florida)

Oakland Museum of California (Oakland, CA)

Palais de Tokyo (Ancien National D’art Moderne) (Paris, France)

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

Philadelphia Museum of Art

Saint Louis Museum of Fine Arts

San Antonio Art League Museum

San Diego Museum of Art

Santa Barbara Museum of Art

Westmoreland Museum of American Art (Greensburg, Pennsylvania)

The White House (Washington, D.C.)