An important international artist, Colin Campbell Cooper found success within his lifetime as a painter of the world's architectural grandeur. He is well known for his depictions of New York City skyscrapers. His ability to produce landscapes populated with important landmarks, buildings and humans won him more than ten awards in exhibitions.
He sought unusual artistic vistas around the world's great building accomplishments. His strong colored palette and impressionistic style complemented the strict geometric building lines of his inanimate subjects. His use of dramatic shadows and variable light, combined with living subjects, finished the pieces masterfully.
In his early teens, cooper was encouraged by his family to follow an artistic career. He studied with Thomas Eakins at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts. He further pursued his art education at several Paris academies, where his oil paintings works of European landmarks earned great praise. His success established, he pursued his personal dream of returning to live and work in California, and became dean of the School of Painting at the Santa Barbara College of the Arts in 1921.