Marine No. 2, circa 1920s
watercolor on paper, 18 x 24 inches
Provenance: Raydon Gallery, New York, NY
Exhibited: The Union League Club, New York, NY, 1980
Anderson Fine Art Center, Anderson. IL, 1980
Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, Howard Cook studied at the Art Students League. He then set out on extensive travels, including visits to Maine in the 1920s. He began his career as a commercial artist, but after traveling west for an illustration job in 1926, he fell in love with Santa Fe and Taos, where he settled in 1935. A master printmaker, he also created numerous murals for the WPA. He was well known for his watercolors during the 1940s, although he also began to work in oils; he eventually evolved toward a more abstract style with rhythmic patterns evoking movement. His work is included in a large number of public and private collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, Museum of Modern Art, Art Institute of Chicago, and many others.