HOWARD NORTON COOK (1901-1980)
Available Work | Biography
Biography • Howard Norton Cook (1901-1980)
Howard Norton Cook was born on July 16, 1901 in Springfield, Massachusetts. He left Springfield in 1919 to accept a scholarship from the Art Students League in New York. At the Art Students League, Cook studied under Andrew Dasburg and Maurice Sterne.
Following his time at the Art Students League, Cook spent several years studying abroad. Upon his return to the United States, Cook began to work as a commercial artist for magazines such as Century, Atlantic Monthly, Scribner’s, and Harpers. In 1926 he journeyed to Taos while on assignment for Forum magazine. It was in Taos that he met and married the artist Barbara Latham. Cook spent the next several years concentrating on printmaking. In 1932 he departed for Mexico on a Guggenheim Scholarship to study fresco technique. Cook moved to Taos in 1935, but did not begin painting in oil until 1944. For the remainder of his life, Cook’s primary subjects were the southwestern landscape and the Pueblo Indians, rendered in a style which employed broad forms and patterns, derived from his years of printmaking.
Howard Cook was a member of many organizations including: the Prairie Print Makers, National Society of Mural Painters, Society of American Etchers, and the American Federation of Arts. His work was widely exhibited and received numerous awards including: the Art Club of Philadelphia, 1929 (prize), 1933 (prize); Warsaw, 1933 (prize); Brooklyn Society of Etchers, 1931 (prize); Society of American Etchers, 1934 (prize), 1936 (prize); Art Alliance of Philadelphia, 1934 (prize), Art Institute of Chicago, 1934, 1935 (prize), 1936-46; Philadelphia Print Club, 1937 (prize); Architectural League of New York, 1937 (gold); 50 Prints of the Year, 1931-35; American Artists for Victory, 1942 (medal); Whitney Museum of American Art; Brooklyn Museum; California Watercolor Society; Springfield Museum of Fine Art; Weyhe Gallery (one-man exhibits); Rehn Gallery, 1945; and Kennedy Gallery, 1945.
Examples of Howard Norton Cook’s work can be found in many museums and public buildings such as: the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; murals, Federal buildings; Springfield, Massachusetts, Pittsburgh, San Antonio, Corpus Christi; Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University; Baltimore Museum of Art; New York Public Library; Mattatuck Historical Society, Waterbury, Connecticut; Art Institute of Chicago; Lehigh University; Princeton; Newark Museum; Public Library, Springfield, Massachusetts; Hamilton College; Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris; Kupferstich Kabinett, Berlin; British Museum; and the Victoria & Albert Museum.