Howard Cook

Howard Norton Cook (1901–1980) was an American artist, particularly known for his wood engravings[1] and murals. Cook spent much of the 1920s in Europe and returned to live in Taos, New Mexico.[1]

Steel Industry (1936) Cook's fresco at Joseph F. Weis, Jr. U.S. Courthouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
For the Ohio politician, see Howard C. Cook.
Howard Cook
War artists Aaron Bohrod (left) and Howard Cook on Rendova Island, June 1943
Born(1901-07-16)July 16, 1901
Springfield, Massachusetts
DiedJune 24, 1980(1980-06-24) (aged 78)
Santa Fe, New Mexico
NationalityAmerican
EducationAndrew Dasburg
Maurice Sterne
Alma materArt Students League of New York
Known forPrintmaking, watercolors, frescos
Styleexpressionistic, abstract, realistic
SpouseBarbara Latham
AwardsGuggenheim Fellowships in 1932, 1934

Cook first came to Taos, New Mexico in 1926 commissioned by The Forum to make a series of woodcuts to illustrate Death Comes for the Archbishop that would be published serially in the periodical.[2] In Taos he was introduced to artist Barbara Latham by Victor Higgins. The couple married in May 1927. From 1928 to 1935, they traveled: to Europe, Mexico and the American South. Working for New Deal art projects, Cook produced murals for courthouses in Pittsburgh (Section of Painting and Sculpture)[3] and Springfield, Massachusetts (Public Works of Art Project).[4][5] He also produced a 16-panel fresco, The Importance of San Antonio in Texas History, in a San Antonio post office, for which he was paid $12,000 in 1937.[6] In 1938, the couple settled near Taos on the Talpa ridge. This became their base until 1976.[7]

In 1943 Cook was appointed to lead a World War II art unit in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater. His team accompanied the U.S. Army's 43rd Infantry Division throughout the region, including the Solomon Islands, New Hebrides and Phoenix Islands. After six months Cook returned home on a medical discharge.[8][9] Drawings and watercolors from Cook's war experiences in the South Pacific were part of the touring exhibition The Army at War: A Graphic Record by American Artists (1944), sponsored by the Treasury Department.[10]

In 1967, Cook became the first artist in the Roswell Museum and Art Center's Artist-in-Residence program. The couple started to spend their winters in Roswell, New Mexico, where they eventually moved in 1973. Due to Cook's ill health, the couple moved to Santa Fe in 1976. Cook died in 1980.[7]

Public collections

References
  1. Becker, p.56.
  2. Zigrosser, Carl (1952). New Mexico Artists. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. p. 122.
  3. "Howard Norton Cook". Living New Deal. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
  4. Morrison, Richard C. (1938). Federal Art in New England 1933–1937. Federal Art Project. p. 17. OCLC 8689852.
  5. Porter, Dean (1999). Taos Artists and Their Patrons 1898-1950. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico. p. 368. ISBN 0826321097.
  6. Harwood, p.37.
  7. Ebie, Teresa H. "Remarkable Women of Taos New Mexico: Barbara Latham". Taos.org. Archived from the original on February 21, 2015. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
  8. Howard Cook. Roswell, New Mexico: Roswell Museum and Art Center. 1965.
  9. Fawcett, Kirsten (August 5, 2019). "Artist Howard Cook's Brush With Death in the South Pacific". HistoryNet. World History Group. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
  10. "The Army at War: A Graphic Record by American Artists". Art Institute of Chicago. December 18–28, 1944. Retrieved August 24, 2022.

Sources
  • Becker, David P. (2006). The Imprint of Place: Maine Printmaking 1800-2005. Down East Books.
  • Harwood, Buie (1993). Decorating Texas: Decorative Painting in the Lone Star State from the 1850s to the 1950s. TCU Press.


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