Lot Essay
Colin Campbell Cooper, best known for his admiring renditions of New York's skyscrapers, ventured to America's West coast in 1915 to see the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. There, the artist was captivated by the light and climate that absorbed so many other American painters of the time. As a result, his work blossomed as "he exalted California's intense light through his dazzling brushwork and high-keyed colors." (D.D. Keyes, California Light, Athens, Georgia, 1996, p. 65) In "The Temple of Art, San Francisco, Cooper has combined his old love of architecture and progress with his new-found fascination with California's brilliant atmosphere.