Austin Cooper (1890–1964) was a Canadian–British illustrator and commercial artist. His work included cover illustrations for the

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

(including the 1935 Christmas edition) and posters for the

London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after LMS) of the " Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At th ...

, the

Empire Marketing Board The Empire Marketing Board was formed in May 1926 by the Colonial Secretary Leo Amery to promote intra-Empire trade and to persuade consumers to 'Buy Empire'. It was established as a substitute for tariff reform and protectionist legislation and ...

, London Transport, and the

General Post Office The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Before the Acts of Union 1707, it was the postal system of the Kingdom of England, established by Charles II in 1660. ...

. Examples of the latter are now in the collections of

London Transport Museum The London Transport Museum (often abbreviated as the LTM) is a transport museum based in Covent Garden, London. The museum predominantly hosts exhibits relating to the heritage of London's transport, as well as conserving and explaining the h ...

and the

British Postal Museum The Postal Museum (formerly the British Postal Museum & Archive) is a postal museum run by the Postal Heritage Trust. It began in 2004 as The British Postal Museum & Archive and opened in Central London as The Postal Museum on 28 July 2017. Si ...

Career

Cooper was born in

Souris, Manitoba Souris is an unincorporated urban community in the Municipality of Souris – Glenwood within the Canadian province of Manitoba that held town status prior to January 1, 2015 (2016 population: 1,876). It is located within the municipality at th ...

, Canada, on 5 March 1890, the son of an Irish farmer. Cooper studied at the

Cardiff School of Art Cardiff School of Art & Design (CSAD) is one of the five schools that comprise Cardiff Metropolitan University. It originated as the Cardiff School of Art in 1865. History Cardiff School of Art & Design opened in 1865 as the Cardiff School of S ...

, and then the Allan-Frazer College of Art in Arbroath. He began his career as a commercial artist after returning to

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

, at a commercial art studio alongside fellow Arbroath student Adam Sherriff Scott. The two produced a painting "Christ in Calgary" (1913; thought lost), which was exhibited unsigned at the Royal Picture Gallery there for six months, described by the '' Calgary News-Telegram'' (one of whose street-vendors was depicted in the painting) as showing: On being identified as one of the artists Cooper's only comment, to a newspaper, was "We have nothing to say about it except what appears on the canvass". Subsequently, he and Sherriff-Scott set up their own company, Shagpat Studios, in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

. During World War I he was in Flanders with the

Canadian Black Watch , colors = , march = Quick: "Hielan' Laddie"Slow: "The Red Hackle" , mascot = , battles = Second Boer WarFirst World WarSecond World WarWar in Afgha ...

, rising to

Regimental Sergeant Major Regimental sergeant major (RSM) is an appointment that may be held by warrant officers class 1 (WO1) in the British Army, the British Royal Marines and in the armies of many other Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, including Australi ...

, before being discharged in 1919. He moved to London in 1922, having met his wife-to-be there. From 1936 to 1940, he was principal of the London branch of the

Reimann School The Reimann School of Art and Design was a private art school which was founded in Berlin in 1902 by Albert Reimann, and re-established in Regency Street, Pimlico, London in January 1937 after persecution by the Nazis. It was the first commercia ...

of Commercial and Industrial Art. Later in his career, in 1943, he gave up commercial art for abstract painting. His first solo exhibition was held in 1948, at the London Gallery. Several of his abstract works are in the collection of the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

. He died in 1964.

Bibliography

References

External links

Austin Cooper (1890–1964) and the Art Of The Poster
– 2010 blog post with photograph of Cooper {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Austin 1890 births 1964 deaths 20th-century British painters British illustrators People from Souris, Manitoba Canadian art educators Artists from London Artists from Manitoba Artists from Montreal Canadian military personnel of World War I Black Watch soldiers Writers from London Writers from Manitoba Writers from Montreal 20th-century Canadian non-fiction writers British art teachers

Career

Bibliography

References

Further reading

External links