Skip to main content

Howard Norton Cook Art

American, 1901-1980

Howard Norton Cook left his childhood home in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1919 to receive formal training in New York at the Art Students League. While in New York, Cook studied under George Bridgman and attended an experimental class with Max Weber and Andrew Dasburg. He spent his time between sessions painting outdoor billboards and working in lithography and photo-engraving shops. In 1922, Cook began work as an illustrator, contributing woodcuts and drawings to Harper's, Scribner's, Survey, Atlantic Monthly, and Forum. Various assignments allowed him to travel all over the world. Cook was on assignment for Forum to illustrate the serialization of Willa Cather's Death Comes to the Archbishop when he first visited New Mexico in 1926. Cook remained in New Mexico for a year and a half, during which time he met and married artist Barbara Latham. During the next few years, the couple traveled to Paris where Cook studied in a prominent lithographic workshop; to Taxco, Mexico, where he studied fresco painting on a Guggenheim fellowship; and to the Deep South of the United States on a second Guggenheim fellowship. In 1935, Cook and Latham settled in Taos, New Mexico. By that time, Cook had been represented in 50 Prints of the Year several times, yet his focus turned to fresco painting. He traveled across throughout the United States on mural commissions and, in 1937, the Architectural League of New York awarded Cook the Gold Medal for mural painting. Cook later served in the Navy as an artist-war correspondent in the South Pacific. His paintings from that period were exhibited in the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., and later displayed across the U.S. in a traveling exhibition funded by the War Department. After returning from the war, Cook produced several powerful lithographs depicting his experiences in the South Pacific. In 1949, he was elected to membership in the National Academy as a graphic artist. During the 1940's, Cook was known for his watercolors set in New Mexico. Later paintings in oil became increasingly abstract. Some of the artist's favorite subjects included Southwestern landscapes and Indian dances that focused on conveying a strong sense of movement. Throughout his career, Cook was a guest professor at many art schools and universities. In 1967, he became the first artist in residence at the Roswell Museum, Roswell, NM. Howard Cook remained in New Mexico until his death in 1980. ©David Cook Galleries, LLC

to
1
9
1
3
2
3
1
1
Overall Height
to
Overall Width
to
6
4
4
3
3
3
3
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
9
7
2
11
6,847
3,168
2,517
1,217
4
3
2
1
1
Artist: Howard Norton Cook
'Taxco Market' — 1930s Rare American Modernist Scene of Mexico
By Howard Norton Cook
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Howard Cook, 'Taxco Market', aquatint and etching, 1932-33, edition 30, Duffy 181. Signed and titled in pencil. A superb, richly-inked impression, on cream wove paper; the full shee...
Category

1930s American Modern Howard Norton Cook Art

Materials

Aquatint, Etching

'Soaring New York' — 1930s American Modernism, New York City
By Howard Norton Cook
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Howard Cook, 'Soaring New York', aquatint, soft-ground etching, roulette, 1931-32, edition 25, Duffy 165. Signed, dated, and annotated 'imp' in pencil. A superb, richly-inked, atmosp...
Category

1930s American Modern Howard Norton Cook Art

Materials

Etching, Aquatint

'Financial District', New York City — 1930s American Modernism
By Howard Norton Cook
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Howard Cook, 'Financial District', lithograph, 1931, edition 75, Duffy 155. A fine, richly-inked impression, on cream wove paper, the full sheet with wide margins (2 3/4 to 5 5/8 inches), in excellent condition. Image size 13 5/16 x 10 3/8 inches (338 x 264 mm); sheet size 23 x 16 inches (584 x 406 mm). Matted to museum standards, unframed. Literature: 'American Master Prints from the Betty and Douglas Duffy Collection', the Trust for Museum Exhibitions, Washington, D.C., 1987. Collections: Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Library of Congress, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum. ABOUT THE ARTIST Howard Norton Cook (1901-1980) was one of the best-known of the second generation of artists who moved to Taos. A native of Massachusetts, he studied at the Art Students League in New York City and at the Woodstock Art Colony. Beginning his association with Taos in 1926, he became a resident of the community in the 1930s. During his career, he received two Guggenheim Fellowships and was elected an Academician in the National Academy of Design. He earned a national reputation as a painter, muralist, and printmaker. Cook’s work in the print mediums received acclaim early in his career with one-person exhibitions at the Denver Art Museum (1927) and the Museum of New Mexico (1928). He received numerous honors and awards over the years, including selection in best-of-the-year exhibitions sponsored by the American Institute of Graphics Arts, the Brooklyn Museum, the Society of American Etchers, and the Philadelphia Print Club. His first Guggenheim Fellowship took him to Taxco, Mexico in 1932 and 1933; his second in the following year enabled him to travel through the American South and Southwest. Cook painted murals for the Public Works of Art Project in 1933 and the Treasury Departments Art Program in 1935. The latter project, completed in Pittsburgh, received a Gold Medal from the Architectural League of New York. One of his most acclaimed commissions was a mural in the San Antonio Post Office in 1937. He and Barbara Latham settled in Talpa, south of Taos, in 1938 and remained there for over three decades. Cook volunteered in World War II as an Artist War Correspondent for the US Navy, where he was deployed in the Pacific. In 1943 he was appointed Leader of a War Art Unit...
Category

1930s American Modern Howard Norton Cook Art

Materials

Lithograph

"Mexican Family, " Black & White Lithograph Family Portrait signed by Howard Cook
By Howard Norton Cook
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Mexican Family" is a black and white lithograph by Howard Cook. The artist signed the piece lower right. It is from an edition of 250. This artwork dep...
Category

1940s Howard Norton Cook Art

Materials

Lithograph

Skyscrapers.
By Howard Norton Cook
Located in Storrs, CT
Skyscrapers. c. 1950. Pastel. 29 3/4 x 19 7/8 (framed 37 x 27). Provenance: The New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut. Signed, lower right. Housed in a stunn...
Category

1940s American Modern Howard Norton Cook Art

Materials

Pastel

Soaring New York
By Howard Norton Cook
Located in New York, NY
Howard Cook (1901-1980), Soaring New York, aquatint, soft0ground etching, roulette, 1931-2; signed, dated and annotated “imp” in pencil lower right, titled lower margin. Reference: D...
Category

1930s American Realist Howard Norton Cook Art

Materials

Etching

Chrysler Building (Chrysler Building in Construction)
By Howard Norton Cook
Located in New York, NY
Howard Cook (1901-1980), Chrysler Building (Chrysler Building in Construction) – –1930, Wood Engraving. Duffy 122. Edition 75, only 50 printed. 19...
Category

1930s American Modern Howard Norton Cook Art

Materials

Woodcut

Montparnasse Street
By Howard Norton Cook
Located in New York, NY
Montparnasse Street– 1931, Etching Duffy 128. Edition 50, only 25 printed. Signed, dated, and annotated imp and 50 in pencil. Image size 4 7/8 x 9 7/8 inches (124 x 251 mm); sh...
Category

1930s American Realist Howard Norton Cook Art

Materials

Etching

Financial District
By Howard Norton Cook
Located in New York, NY
Howard Cook (1901-1980), Financial District, lithograph, 1931, signed and dated in pencil lower right and numbered 75 lower left. Reference: Duffy 155, from the stated edition of 75....
Category

1930s American Modern Howard Norton Cook Art

Materials

Lithograph

Related Items
John Taylor Arms, Battle Wagon
By John Taylor Arms
Located in New York, NY
John Taylor Arms was known for making such finely drawn etchings that commercial tools were not good enough: He regularly used sewing needles with corks for handles. Made during Worl...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Realist Howard Norton Cook Art

Materials

Etching

Hand of Africa - Mandela, Former South African President, Signed Artwork, Hand
By Nelson Mandela
Located in Knowle Lane, Cranleigh
Nelson Mandela, Hand of Africa, Signed Limited Edition Lithograph Many people are unaware that Nelson Mandela turned his hand to art in his 80's as a way of leaving a legacy for his ...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Howard Norton Cook Art

Materials

Lithograph

Rainstorm Sunset
By Robert Noel Blair
Located in Buffalo, NY
You are viewing a modernist American watercolor painting by Robert Noel Blair. Robert Noel Blair (American, 1912-2003) was an American artist, painter, sculptor, printmaker and te...
Category

American Modern Howard Norton Cook Art

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

MORNING IN YOSEMITE
By Harold Lukens Doolittle
Located in Santa Monica, CA
HAROLD L. DOOLITTLE (1883 - 1974) MORNING IN YOSEMITE c 1938 Aquatint, signed and titled in pencil by the artist. Plate size 13 3/8 x 9 3/4". Sheet 16 x 11 1/8" with deckle edges. Doolittle was a renaissance man. His day job was as an engineer for the Edison Electric Co. But he produced an outstanding body of prints for 5 decades as well as photographs. His very rare arts and crafts furniture is highly sought after. He was a long time member and officer in the California Print...
Category

1930s American Realist Howard Norton Cook Art

Materials

Aquatint

Waiting, Framed Print by Will Barnet
By Will Barnet
Located in Long Island City, NY
Waiting from the Kent Bicentennial Portfolio Will Barnet, American (1911–2012) Date: 1975 Offset Lithograph (unsigned) Image Size: 11.25 x 11 inches Size: 17 x 14 in. (43.18 x 35.56 ...
Category

1970s American Modern Howard Norton Cook Art

Materials

Offset, Lithograph

Lower East Side Tenements Yiddish Barber Shop 1920's Aquatint Etching Judaica
By Max Pollak
Located in Surfside, FL
Hand signed, numbered and titled. It depicts the old lower east side of New York city with its tenements and different language signes, barber shop poles...
Category

1920s American Modern Howard Norton Cook Art

Materials

Etching, Aquatint

Henri Toulouse Lautrec, Original Lithograph 1897
By Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: Toulouse Lautrec (1864 -1901) French Title: The Chestnut Vendor Medium: Lithograph, Year: 1897 Signature: Signed in Plate (TL) Lower Left Dimensions: 20” x 17” Framed, 11” x 8.5” Unframed A lithograph of a Toulouse Lautrec drawing...
Category

Late 19th Century Post-Impressionist Howard Norton Cook Art

Materials

Lithograph

Letter "Y" from the Alphabet Suite
By Erte - Romain de Tirtoff
Located in Saugatuck, MI
Erte hand signed and numbered limited edition lithograph and screen print. From the Alphabet Suite. Framed dimensions are 26" W x 31" T. Near Mint condi...
Category

1970s Art Deco Howard Norton Cook Art

Materials

Screen, Lithograph

"LA CHAINE SIMPSON" by Toulouse-Lautrec from Les Maitres de l'Affiche
By Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
Located in Hinsdale, IL
TOULOUSE-LAUTREC, HENRI DE (1864-1901) "LA CHAINE SIMPSON" Original lithograph from "Les Maitres de L'Affiche" series Printed by Imprimerie Chaix, Paris Bearing MDL stamp lower right, from issue #60, 1900. Plate #238 Unframed Size: 11 3/8 x 15 3/4” The "Les Maitres de l'Affiche" series was offered as a subscription series to collectors every month for 60 months, from December 1895 through November 1900. The "Maitres de l'Affiche," were issued as separate numbered sheets, referred to as "plates". They were numbered, with the printers name "Imprimerie Chaix," in the margin at the bottom left hand corner, "PL.1" to "PL.240." In the margin at the bottom right hand corner of each, is a blind embossed stamp from a design of Cheret's. The smaller format and the fact the "Maitres" were a paid subscription series, allowed Imprimerie Chaix to use the latest state of the art printing techniques, not normally used in the large format posters due to cost. A very high quality of paper was used, where as the large format posters were printed on lesser quality newsprint, due to cost and a short expected life span. This explains why the quality of the printing, in the "Maitres de l'Affiche," usually far exceeds that of their larger counterparts. "In her recent excellent biography of Lautrec, Julia Frey indicates that 'Henry, the frustrated athlete, was compulsively familiar with the vocabulary and technical aspects of a variety of sports in which he could participate as a spectator: horse and bicycle racing, wrestling, yachting, bullfighting. He watched them all with the same intensity that he watched a line of dancers or a circus bareback rider, attracted by the beauty of movement, but also by the smells, sounds and excitement of the spectacle (Frey, p.353) His 'insider' knowledge of the cycling field shows up abundantly in this poster for the French agent of the Simpson bicycle chain company. In the foreground is the champion cyclist Constant Huret. In the background are Tristan Bernard, the sports impresario who was a close friend of Lautrec, with Louis Bougle, the French agent who adopted the name 'Spoke.' A touch of levity is added by what appears to be a 'bicycle-built-for-ten' in the upper-left corner, in fact it's two five-seaters, known at the time as 'quints.'"(Rennert, PAI-XXII, 35)Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec came from an aristocratic background, having been born the son of an earl.Even as a schoolboy he showed a talent for drawing. By 14 he had suffered two horse back riding accidents, combined with a serious bone disease which eventually left him crippled for life. His body continued to grow but not his legs, he would remain only five feet tall and suffer pain and embarrassment his entire life.At the age of 18, Lautrec moved to Montmartre in Paris to study art seriously. He worked with artists Louis Anquentin, Emile Bernard, Degas, Van Gogh and others. He became a frequenter of the the cafes, cabarets and brothels of the neighborhood, drawing from them inspirations for his artistic themes. As the artist's stature grew, several magazines wanted to publish his work, including Le Rire. His subjects, as well as street life, included some of the most famous music-hall performers, with whom he became friends, such as Yvette Guilbert, La Goulue Jane Avril, May Milton, May Belfort...
Category

1890s Art Nouveau Howard Norton Cook Art

Materials

Lithograph

MANHATTAN
By Anton Schutz
Located in Santa Monica, CA
ANTON SCHUTZ MANHATTAN c 1940 Etching, signed in pencil, edition 100, no. 15/100. On thin simili-japan paper. Very slight toning around plate mark. Remnants of old tape on verso, s...
Category

1940s American Realist Howard Norton Cook Art

Materials

Etching

MANHATTAN
MANHATTAN
H 10 in W 13.875 in D 0.05 in
19th century pastel of a river scene, The Chapel Bridge, Lucerne, Switzerland.
By Hercules Brabazon Brabazon
Located in Cotignac, FR
Mid 19th century pastel drawing view of the Chapel Bridge and river Reuss in Lucerne, Switzerland by Hercules Brabazon Brabazon. The work...
Category

1860s Romantic Howard Norton Cook Art

Materials

Paper, Pastel, Pencil

Abstract "Tree Landscape" Ink Line Drawing 1981 American Modernist Jack Hooper
By Jack Hooper
Located in Arp, TX
Jack Hooper "Tree Landscape" 1981 Ink on glossy paper 11"x7" unframed Signed and dated in pencil lower right Embrace the serene beauty of nature through this abstract line drawing b...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Modern Howard Norton Cook Art

Materials

Paper, Ink

Previously Available Items
Taos Pueblo, Firelight, New Mexico, Semi Abstract Painting, Red Orange Yellow
By Howard Norton Cook
Located in Denver, CO
Taos Pueblo, Firelight (New Mexico), vintage mid-century semi-Abstract oil painting by modernist, Howard Cook (1901-1980). Oil on board, signed and titled verso, circa 1950-1970. Pai...
Category

Mid-20th Century Abstract Howard Norton Cook Art

Materials

Oil

Eagle Dance — Mid-Century Modern
By Howard Norton Cook
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Howard Cook, 'Eagle Dance', wood engraving, 1942, edition 200, Duffy 201. Signed and dated in pencil. A superb, black impression, on off-white, wove paper...
Category

1940s American Modern Howard Norton Cook Art

Materials

Woodcut

MILITARY MUNITIONS American Modernism WPA World War II Modern Realism Historical
By Howard Norton Cook
Located in New York, NY
MILITARY MUNITIONS American Modernism WPA World War II Modern Realism Historical. Howard Norton Cook (1901 – 1980) "Military Munitions," 20 x 24 inches. Oil on canvas, c. 1940s. Sig...
Category

1940s American Realist Howard Norton Cook Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Edison Plant
By Howard Norton Cook
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Howard Cook, 'Edison Plant', lithograph, 1930, edition 75 (only 35 printed), Duffy 127. Signed, dated, and titled in pencil. A fine richly-inked impression, on cream, wove paper; th...
Category

1930s American Modern Howard Norton Cook Art

Materials

Lithograph

Brooklyn Bridge
By Howard Norton Cook
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Howard Cook, 'Brooklyn Bridge', lithograph, edition 20, 1949. Signed and titled in pencil. Printed by the artist's friend, master printer George C. Miller. Annotated by the artist 'T...
Category

1940s American Modern Howard Norton Cook Art

Materials

Lithograph

Mexican Interior (3 generations of Mexican natives with crafts in Taxco, Mexico)
By Howard Norton Cook
Located in New Orleans, LA
Howard Cook created "Mexican Interior", the portrait of three generations of natives of Taxco, Mexico with their pottery displayed in the background. This black and white etching is ...
Category

1930s American Modern Howard Norton Cook Art

Materials

Etching

Engine Room
By Howard Norton Cook
Located in New York, NY
Howard Cook (1901-1980), Engine Room, lithograph, 1930, signed, dated and inscribed 75 in pencil. Reference: Duffy 128, only state, from the intended edit...
Category

1930s American Realist Howard Norton Cook Art

Materials

Lithograph

Taos Indian
By Howard Norton Cook
Located in Denver, CO
This original woodcut is signed in pencil in the lower right margin. It is alternately titled "Fat John" with an edition of 50 (40 printed). It is housed in a custom frame with all...
Category

1920s American Modern Howard Norton Cook Art

Materials

Woodcut

Eagle Dance
By Howard Norton Cook
Located in Denver, CO
Framed dimensions are 20.5 x 17.5 inches.
Category

1940s Howard Norton Cook Art

New Mexico #10 - Ranchos de Taos, NM
By Howard Norton Cook
Located in Denver, CO
Framed dimensions are 27 x 62 inches
Category

1950s Howard Norton Cook Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Howard Norton Cook art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Howard Norton Cook art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Howard Norton Cook in etching, aquatint, lithograph and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the modern style. Not every interior allows for large Howard Norton Cook art, so small editions measuring 6 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of John French Sloan, Rockwell Kent, and Arnold Ronnebeck. Howard Norton Cook art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $2,000 and tops out at $30,000, while the average work can sell for $13,000.

Artists Similar to Howard Norton Cook

Recently Viewed

View All