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Lot Essay
An inveterate traveler, Colin Campbell Cooper found inspiration in subjects from New York to India and locations throughout California, from the the pristine landscape of Yosemite to the urban centers of San Francisco and San Diego. Trained under the tutelage of Thomas Eakins at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Cooper developed his own style of Impressionism that appears grounded in the structural realism and close study of light and form imparted to him by the noted instructor. Upon his return from European study, the rapidly evolving landscape of Manhattan provided inspiration for Cooper, who sought to capture the bustling city life, architecture, light and atmosphere of this urban environment. Often taken from a high vantage point, Cooper's compositions were able to encompass a wide angle and array of subjects that he witnessed in lower Manhattan, emphasizing the towering skyscrapers that were rapidly dominating the American urban scenery. Critic Albert W. Barker commented that: "There is every mark of this spirit in Mr. Cooper's skyscrapers. His enthusiasm is contagious; as a colorist and luminist, as a painter of light and color for their own sakes, his message rings truer and has a quicker accent than of old, and is the more convincing he is talking of it in relation to ourselves and our own surroundings." (as quoted in W.H. Gerdts, "Cooper in New York and Beyond," East Coast/West Coast and Beyond: Colin Campbell Cooper, American Impressionist, exhibition catalogue, New York, 2006, p. 33)
Along with other leading artists of the day, James McNeill Whistler, John Singer Sargent, and William Merritt Chase, Cooper submitted works to the landmark 1915 exhibition in San Francisco, the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. The light and architecure of the city, and in particular the Eastern influence displayed in many aspects of San Francisco, immediately inspired Cooper. With the opening of another exposition the following year in San Diego, this year offered Cooper considerable time to travel the coast of California, including a possible stop at the burgeoning art colony in Santa Barbara.
Considerable wealth had come to Santa Barbara in prior years and along with this wealth from the east came notable patrons who sought to similarly develop the arts on the west coast. "Between 1890 and 1930, forty 'great estates' were built in Santa Barbara and its neighboring community Montecito. These estates were home to families such as those of CKG Billings, George Owen Knapp, and Frederic Gould. They funded civic projects, established exclusive day schools, and certainly could afford to patronize the arts. Perhaps more compelling for Cooper, The Santa Barbara School of the Arts, founded in 1920, adopted a mission to 'develop a spirit of fellowship in the arts...to lead the individual student to worthy achievement.' The art faculty included Fernand Lungren, De Witt Parshall, Carl Oscar Borg, Belmore Browne, and John Marhsall Gamble...By joining the faculty in 1921 to teach an outdoor landscape class, he was able to work in a convivial environment, and his association bolstered the reputation of the nascent institution." (D. Solon, "Cooper in California and Beyond," East Coast/West Coast and Beyond: Colin Campbell Cooper, American Impressionist, exhibition catalogue, New York, 2006, p. 108)
"The Samarkand Hotel (Persian for 'land of heart's desire') was originally the site of a private boys school built by Dr. Prynce Hopkins in 1915. Surrounding the two-story main building with wings for dormitories and classrooms, its exotically planted garden terraces led to a large artifical lake. When the school failed in 1918, Hopkins's mother renovated the complex into a small, exclusive hotel catering to an Eastern clientele who summered in Santa Barbara. Its magnificent gardens attracted many, including Cooper." (East Coast/West Coast and Beyond: Colin Campbell Cooper, American Impressionist, p. 113) In the present work, Samarkand, Santa Barbara, Cooper has presented an exquisitely balanced scene of warm light and cool shadow set against a terrace of architectural simplicity bathed in nature's grandeur of blossoms, flowering plants, and a wide range of trees and bushes. The slight bend in the pathway leads the viewer to a serene lily pond and to another distant pergola beyond, while the sloping background hillside opens up the rest of the composition to a brilliant blue sky. The harmony of light and color, coupled with the stillness and quiet that pervade the scene make Samarkand, Santa Barbara a stunning example of California Impressionism.
Along with other leading artists of the day, James McNeill Whistler, John Singer Sargent, and William Merritt Chase, Cooper submitted works to the landmark 1915 exhibition in San Francisco, the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. The light and architecure of the city, and in particular the Eastern influence displayed in many aspects of San Francisco, immediately inspired Cooper. With the opening of another exposition the following year in San Diego, this year offered Cooper considerable time to travel the coast of California, including a possible stop at the burgeoning art colony in Santa Barbara.
Considerable wealth had come to Santa Barbara in prior years and along with this wealth from the east came notable patrons who sought to similarly develop the arts on the west coast. "Between 1890 and 1930, forty 'great estates' were built in Santa Barbara and its neighboring community Montecito. These estates were home to families such as those of CKG Billings, George Owen Knapp, and Frederic Gould. They funded civic projects, established exclusive day schools, and certainly could afford to patronize the arts. Perhaps more compelling for Cooper, The Santa Barbara School of the Arts, founded in 1920, adopted a mission to 'develop a spirit of fellowship in the arts...to lead the individual student to worthy achievement.' The art faculty included Fernand Lungren, De Witt Parshall, Carl Oscar Borg, Belmore Browne, and John Marhsall Gamble...By joining the faculty in 1921 to teach an outdoor landscape class, he was able to work in a convivial environment, and his association bolstered the reputation of the nascent institution." (D. Solon, "Cooper in California and Beyond," East Coast/West Coast and Beyond: Colin Campbell Cooper, American Impressionist, exhibition catalogue, New York, 2006, p. 108)
"The Samarkand Hotel (Persian for 'land of heart's desire') was originally the site of a private boys school built by Dr. Prynce Hopkins in 1915. Surrounding the two-story main building with wings for dormitories and classrooms, its exotically planted garden terraces led to a large artifical lake. When the school failed in 1918, Hopkins's mother renovated the complex into a small, exclusive hotel catering to an Eastern clientele who summered in Santa Barbara. Its magnificent gardens attracted many, including Cooper." (East Coast/West Coast and Beyond: Colin Campbell Cooper, American Impressionist, p. 113) In the present work, Samarkand, Santa Barbara, Cooper has presented an exquisitely balanced scene of warm light and cool shadow set against a terrace of architectural simplicity bathed in nature's grandeur of blossoms, flowering plants, and a wide range of trees and bushes. The slight bend in the pathway leads the viewer to a serene lily pond and to another distant pergola beyond, while the sloping background hillside opens up the rest of the composition to a brilliant blue sky. The harmony of light and color, coupled with the stillness and quiet that pervade the scene make Samarkand, Santa Barbara a stunning example of California Impressionism.