(Arthur William) Douglas Cooper, who also published as Douglas Lord''Cooper, Douglas''.
In: ''Dictionary of Art Historians'', retrieved 13 August 2010.John Richardson
Remembering Douglas Cooper.
In:

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...

, retrieved 13 August 2010. (20 February 1911 – 1 April 1984)�
Cooper, (Arthur William) Douglas
��, Who Was Who, A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007. was a British

art historian Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

art critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...

and

art collector A private collection is a privately owned collection of works (usually artworks) or valuable items. In a museum or art gallery context, the term signifies that a certain work is not owned by that institution, but is on loan from an individual ...

. He mainly collected

Cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

works. He was involved with investigating who had dealt with stolen art during the war. After the war he bought a chateau and converted it into a gallery of early cubist art.

Background

Cooper's father, Arthur Hamilton Cooper, of The Manor House,

Blandford St Mary Blandford St Mary is a village and civil parish in the North Dorset district of Dorset, England. The village is on the south bank of the River Stour, immediately opposite the larger town of Blandford Forum. The village grew up around the Badger ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

, a Major with the

Essex Regiment The Essex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958. The regiment served in many conflicts such as the Second Boer War and both World War I and World War II, serving with distinction in all three. ...

, was the second son of Sir William Charles Cooper, 3rd Baronet; his mother, Mabel Alice, was the daughter of Sir William Henry Marriott Smith-Marriott, 5th Baronet. Cooper's biographer and longtime partner John Richardson considered his suffering from the social exclusion of his family by his countrymen to be a defining characteristic of his friend, explaining in particular his

Anglophobia Anti-English sentiment or Anglophobia (from Latin ''Anglus'' "English" and Greek φόβος, ''phobos'', "fear") means opposition to, dislike of, fear of, hatred of, or the oppression and persecution of England and/or English people.''Oxford ...

.John Richardson:
Obituary
', The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 127, No. 985 (Apr. 1985), pp. 228+230-231, retrieved 13 August 2010 Early in the 19th century, Cooper's forebears had emigrated to Australia and acquired great wealth, in particular property in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. His great-grandfather Daniel Cooper became a member of the

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

legislature and was the first Speaker of the new Legislative Assembly in 1856. He was made a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

in 1863 and spent his time both in Australia and England, eventually settling permanently in England, and dying in London. His son and grandson also lived there and sold their Australian property in the 1920s, very much to Douglas's annoyance.

Education

As a teenager, his erudite uncle Gerald Cooper took him on a trip to

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...

, where Cooper saw the

Sergei Diaghilev Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪˈrɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), usually referred to outside Russia as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, pat ...

's ballet company; his biographer traces an arc from here to Cooper's late work ''Picasso et le Théatre''. He went to

Repton School Repton School is a 13–18 co-educational, independent, day and boarding school in the English public school tradition, in Repton, Derbyshire, England. Sir John Port of Etwall, on his death in 1557, left funds to create a grammar school whi ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

, graduating in 1930 with a third in the French section and a second (division 2) in the French section of the Medieval and Modern Languages Tripos. When he was 21, he inherited £100,000 (then about US$500,000, a significant fortune), enabling him to study art history at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

, in Paris and at the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially german: Uni Freiburg), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (german: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisg ...

in Germany, which was not possible at the time in Cambridge.

Art business

In 1933, he became a partner in the

Mayor Gallery The Mayor Gallery is an art gallery located in Cork Street, London, England. Since its foundation by Fred Mayor in partnership with Douglas Cooper in 1925, it has promoted modern and contemporary art. Since the early 1970s, under the new imp ...

in London and planned to show works of

Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

, Léger, Miró and

Klee Paul Klee (; 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented wi ...

in collaboration with Paris-based art dealers like Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler and

Pierre Loeb Pierre Loeb (born September 24, 1897, in Paris; died May 4, 1964) was a French art dealer and gallery owner who focused primarily on Surrealism and 20th-century Modernism. In 1924 he founded the Galerie Pierre in Paris, whose most famous exhibition ...

(1897–1964); however, this collaboration ended quickly and unfavourably. Cooper was paid out in works of art. Cooper attributed this failure not least to the conservative policy 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 ...

; according to Richardson, his resentment was the catalyst for the structure of his own collection, designed to prove the backwardness of the Tate Gallery. At the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, he had acquired 137 cubist works, partly with the help of the collector and dealer

Gottlieb Reber Gottlieb Friedrich Reber (23 March 1880 – 15 July 1959) was a German art collector and dealer who was involved with the trade in looted art during the Second World War. some of them masterpieces, using a third of his inheritance.

Military career

Cooper was not eligible for regular military service, due to an eye injury, so he chose to join a medical unit in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

when

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

started, commanded by the art patron Etienne de Beaumont, who had commissioned works by Picasso and

Braque Georges Braque ( , ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century List of French artists, French painter, Collage, collagist, Drawing, draughtsman, printmaker and sculpture, sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his all ...

, among others. His account of the transfer of wounded soldiers to

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

to be shipped to

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

achieved some fame when published in 1941 by him and his co-driver C. Denis Freeman (''The Road to Bordeaux''). For this action, he received a French ''

Médaille militaire The ''Médaille militaire'' ( en, Military Medal) is a military decoration of the French Republic for other ranks for meritorious service and acts of bravery in action against an enemy force. It is the third highest award of the French Republic, ...

''. Back in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Cooper was arrested as a spy because of his French uniform, missing papers and improper behaviour, treatment for which he never forgave his fellow countrymen. Subsequently, he joined the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

Intelligence unit and was sent to Cairo as an interrogator, a job at which he was enormously successful in squeezing out secrets from even hard-boiled prisoners, not least due to his "'evil queen' ferocity, penetrating intelligence, and refusal to take no for an answer, as well as his ability to storm, rant, and browbeat in Hochdeutsch,

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...

, or

argot A cant is the jargon or language of a group, often employed to exclude or mislead people outside the group.McArthur, T. (ed.) ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (1992) Oxford University Press It may also be called a cryptolect, argot ...

hich Ij ( fa, ايج, also Romanized as Īj; also known as Hich and Īch) is a village in Golabar Rural District, in the Central District of Ijrud County, Zanjan Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also ...

were just the qualifications that his new job required.". He greatly enjoyed the social life there.

Nazi looted art

After a short interlude in

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, Cooper was assigned to a unit trying to investigate Nazi looted art, called the Royal Air Force Intelligence, British Element, Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFAA).Monuments Men Foundation
''Cooper, Sqdr. Ldr. Douglas''
memory page for the members of the Royal Air Force Intelligence, British Element, Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFAA) He was very successful, his most eminent discovery being the Schenker Papers which made it possible to prove that Paris dealers, Swiss collectors, German experts and museums, in particular the

Museum Folkwang Museum Folkwang is a major collection of 19th- and 20th-century art in Essen, Germany. The museum was established in 1922 by merging the Essener Kunstmuseum, which was founded in 1906, and the private Folkwang Museum of the collector and patr ...

Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...

were deeply engaged in looting Jewish property and ''

entartete Kunst Degenerate art (german: Entartete Kunst was a term adopted in the 1920s by the Nazi Party in Germany to describe modern art. During the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler, German modernist art, including many works of internationally renowned artists, ...

'' as well as building collections for

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...

and

Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German politician, military leader and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1 ...

( Schenker was the transport company shipping art to Germany, having excellent bookkeeping) Equally amazing to MFAA investigators was his detailed research on the Swiss art trade during the war; it turned out that many dealers and collectors had been involved in trading looted art. Cooper spent the whole month of February 1945 as emissary of the MFAA and the corresponding French organisation, interrogating dealers and collectors who had dealt with the Nazis and especially

Theodor Fischer Theodor Fischer (28 May 1862 – 25 December 1938) was a German architect and teacher. Career Fischer planned public housing projects for the city of Munich beginning in 1893. He was the joint founder and first chairman of the Deutscher Wer ...

of the Fischer Gallery who in 1939 managed the sale of confiscated "degenerate" artworks. He was particularly proud to have found and arrested the Swiss Charles Montag, one of Hitler's art advisors, who had assembled a private art collection of mostly stolen items for Hitler and was involved in the liquidation of the Paris gallery

Bernheim-Jeune Bernheim-Jeune gallery is one of the oldest art galleries in Paris. Opened on Rue Laffitte in 1863 by Alexandre Bernheim (1839-1915), friend of Delacroix, Corot and Courbet, it changed location a few times before settling on Avenue Matignon. Th ...

; surprisingly, Montag was quickly released. Cooper arrested him again immediately, only to see him set free once again, due to Montag's good connections to

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

, who refused to believe that his longtime friend and teacher, "good old Montag", could have done anything objectionable. Argilliers - Château de Castille -3

Provence

After the Second World War, Cooper returned to England, but could not settle in his native country and moved to southern France, where in 1950 he bought the Château de Castille near

Avignon Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...

, a suitable place to show his impressive art collection, which he continued to expand with newer artists such as

and Miró. During the following years, art historians, collectors, dealers and artists flocked to his home which had become something of an epicenter of Cubism, very much to his pride. Léger and

were regular guests; the latter even became a substantial part of its life. He regarded Picasso as the only genius of the 20th century and he became a substantial promoter of the artist. Picasso tried several times to induce Cooper to sell his house to him; however, he would not agree and finally in 1958 recommended to Picasso the acquisition of

Château of Vauvenargues The Château of Vauvenargues (french: Château de Vauvenargues) is a fortified bastide in the village of Vauvenargues, situated to the north of Montagne Sainte-Victoire, just outside the town of Aix-en-Provence in the south of France. Built on ...

Liaison with John Richardson

In 1950, he became acquainted with the art historian John Richardson, sharing his life with him for the next 10 years. Richardson moved to the Château de Castille in 1952 and transformed the run-down mansion into a private museum of early

Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

. Cooper had been at home in the Paris art scene before World War II and had been active in the art business as well; by building his own collection, he also met many artists personally and introduced them to his friends. Richardson and Cooper became close friends of Picasso,The Guardian: Picasso nearly risked his reputation for Franco exhibition
Had he accepted it would have been major coup for Falangists and destroyed Picasso's status as hero of left, says biographer. By Charlotte Higgins, 28. Mai 2010, retrieved 13 August 2010.

Fernand Léger Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (; February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French painting, painter, sculpture, sculptor, and film director, filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of cubism (known as "tubism") which he gradually ...

and

Nicolas de Staël Nicolas de Staël (; January 5, 1914 – March 16, 1955) was a French painter of Russian origin known for his use of a thick impasto and his highly abstract landscape painting. He also worked with collage, illustration and textiles. Early life ...

as well. At that time Richardson developed an interest in Picasso's portraits and contemplated creating a publication; more than 20 years later, these plans expanded into Richardson's four-part Picasso biography ''A Life of Picasso''.The AI Interview: John Richardson
Artinfo. By David Grosz, 29 May 2008, retrieved 13 August 2010. In 1960, Richardson left Cooper and moved to New York City.

Author

Cooper published frequently in ''

The Burlington Magazine ''The Burlington Magazine'' is a monthly publication that covers the fine and decorative arts of all periods. Established in 1903, it is the longest running art journal in the English language. It has been published by a charitable organisation sin ...

'' and wrote numerous monographs and catalogues about artists of the 19th century, including

Degas Edgar Degas (, ; born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, ; 19 July 183427 September 1917) was a French Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings. Degas also produced bronze sculptures, prints and drawings. Degas is espec ...

van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inclu ...

and

Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "Re ...

, but also about the Cubists he collected. He was among the first

s to write about

modern art Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradi ...

with the same erudition common for artists of the past; in the years before the Second World War, he was a pioneer in this respect. When his catalogue of the exhibition ''The Courtauld Collection'' appeared in 1954, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' wrote about it: His most important achievement is probably the

catalogue raisonné A ''catalogue raisonné'' (or critical catalogue) is a comprehensive, annotated listing of all the known artworks by an artist either in a particular medium or all media. The works are described in such a way that they may be reliably identified ...

Juan Gris José Victoriano González-Pérez (23 March 1887 – 11 May 1927), better known as Juan Gris (; ), was a Spanish painter born in Madrid who lived and worked in France for most of his active period. Closely connected to the innovative artistic ge ...

, which he completed in 1978, six years before his death, and 40 years after beginning it. He was

Slade Professor of Fine Art The Slade Professorship of Fine Art is the oldest professorship of art and art history at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford and University College, London. History The chairs were founded concurrently in 1869 by a bequest from the art collecto ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

from 1957 to 1958 and guest professor at Bryn Mawr and the Courtauld Institute in 1961.

Appreciation

Cooper is an important figure among art experts of the 20th century, however he was controversial because of his contentiousness and his strong need to be the centre of public attention. He was accused not only of

plagiarism Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thought ...

and inaccuracies in his works, but also of "flexible ethics" and "cultivating quarrels as much as friends". Cooper not only contributed to ''The Burlington Magazine'' as an author, but also served on its board of directors and held shares; he nevertheless tried to force the editor,

Benedict Nicolson Lionel Benedict Nicolson (6 August 1914 – 22 May 1978) was a British art historian and author. Nicolson was the elder son of authors Harold Nicolson and Vita Sackville-West and the brother of writer and politician Nigel Nicolson, Nigel. ...

, to resign, unsuccessfully. In the 1950s, he attacked the Tate Gallery director

John Rothenstein Sir John Knewstub Maurice Rothenstein (11 July 1901 – 27 February 1992) was a British arts administrator and art historian. Biography John Rothenstein was born in London in 1901, the son of Sir William Rothenstein. The family was connec ...

, mostly for not supporting

Modern Art Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradi ...

, trying to get him dismissed. He even managed to anger Picasso so much that he excluded him from his circle and surroundings after he pressed Picasso around 1970 to legalise his children.

Misfortunes

In 1961, Cooper was found on a road outside

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; oc, Nimes ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the prefecture of the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Located between the Mediterranean Sea and Cévennes, the commune of Nîmes has an estimated population of 148,5 ...

, heavily injured by stab wounds in the stomach; on his way to the post office in Nîmes to send an article about Picasso's birthday to a London newspaper, he had stopped at a notorious quarter and picked up a young Algerian Fellagha (resistance fighter against the French occupation forces) who had been interned in an open camp nearby. They drove to a lonely area, where the boy drew a knife and required Cooper's money or his life. Like most people in France in those days, Cooper carried two purses, one with change and one with large bills. He handed over the first, infuriating the robber, who demanded more money and stabbed him several times. Cooper pushed back his intestines and dragged himself towards the city, his training as a

medic A medic is a person involved in medicine such as a medical doctor, medical student, paramedic or an emergency medical responder. Among physicians in the UK, the term "medic" indicates someone who has followed a "medical" career path in postgra ...

proving very useful; against all odds, his cries for help in that lonely area were finally heard, so he could be saved, although he had lost much blood and his intestines were heavily damaged. The culprit was arrested and claimed to have been resisting a sexual assault. In 1974, about 20 small paintings by Picasso,

and Gris were stolen from his house; Cooper dismissed his old housekeeper and in consequence lost the respect of his neighbours. Afterwards, he relocated to

, mainly for safety reasons, where he led a rather secluded life. Both incidents were reported by major English and French newspapers.

Old age

In the summer of 1965, Cooper had organized a large exhibition in Toulouse called ''Picasso et le Théatre'' in amicable agreement with Picasso and published the book about this subject two years later. However he was not pleased with Picasso's late work. As a protest against praise in the French art magazine ''Connaissance des Arts'', he made sure that a letter to the editor was published after the death of Picasso in 1973, where he declared: Although it looks like he might have wanted to come to terms with the Tate Gallery at the end of his life (in 1983, he organized the exhibition ''Essential Cubism'' for them), he never overcame his aversion to England. In particular, he did not esteem any art produced in his native country. In a letter to the editor of ''The Times'', he declared in 1980: Towards the end of his life, he was honoured by being appointed the first foreign patron of the

Museo del Prado The Prado Museum ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It is widely considered to house one of the world's finest collections of European art, dating from the ...

in Madrid, which made him very proud. In gratitude, he donated his best '' Gris'' to the Prado, ''Portrait of the Artist's Wife'' from 1916, and a cubist ''Still Life with Pigeons'' by Picasso. His only other donation went to the

Kunstmuseum Basel The Kunstmuseum Basel houses the oldest public art collection in the world and is generally considered to be the most important museum of art in Switzerland. It is listed as a heritage site of national significance. Its lineage extends back to t ...

; the Tate Gallery didn't receive anything. Cooper died on 1 April 1984 (

April Fools' Day April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may ...

), perhaps completely fitting, as he predicted. He left an incomplete catalogue raisonné of

Paul Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fr ...

and his art collection to his adopted son William McCarty Cooper (having adopted him according to French law, in order that nobody else would inherit anything, in particular not his family).''The Sorcerer's Apprentice.'', p. 302 ff. His written legacy is kept at the

Getty Research Institute The Getty Research Institute (GRI), located at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California, is "dedicated to furthering knowledge and advancing understanding of the visual arts".

, Los Angeles, CA.

Selected publications

* C. Denis Freeman, Douglas Cooper: ''The road to Bordeaux.'' Harper, New York and London 1941 * Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler (Transl.: Douglas Cooper):
Juan Gris : his life and work.
' Valentin, New York 1947 * Douglas Cooper: ''William Turner 1775–1851.'' Les éditions Braun. Paris 1949 * Douglas Cooper (Hg.: Kenneth Clark): ''Paul Klee.'' Penguin Books, Middlesex 1949 * Douglas Cooper: ''Henri Rousseau.'' ranzösisch – Englisch – Deutsch Braun/Soho Gallery. Paris/London 1951 * Douglas Cooper (Hsg., Übers.: Paola Calvino):
Pastelle von Edgar Degas.
' Holbein-Verlag, Basel 1952 * Douglas Cooper (Hsg., Ausgew. u. eingel. von Georg Schmidt):
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.
' Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1955 * Douglas Cooper, R. Wehrli et al.: ''Masterpieces of French Painting from the Bührle Collection. – The National Gallery – London – 29 September – 5 November 1961'' Katalog. Arts Council of Britain, London 1961 * Douglas Cooper: ''

, Masters and Movements'', Weidenfeld and Nicolson Ltd. London, 1961. * Douglas Cooper: ''Pablo Picasso Les Déjeuners.'' Éditions Cercle d'Art, Paris 1962 * Douglas Cooper (Hsg., Einl. von Kenneth Clark, Übers. Ingeborg Ramseger unter Mitarb. von Johanna Manns u. Eva Jantzen.):
Berühmte private Kunstsammlungen.
' Stalling, Oldenburg/Hamburg 1963 * Douglas Cooper (Red.):
Georges Braque.
' Ausstellungskatalog. Haus d. Kunst, München, 18. Oktober bis 15. Dezember 1963 * Douglas Cooper (Einleit.): ''PICASSO Deux Epoques *. Gemälde 1960–65 und aus den Jahren 1954, 1957, 1944.'' Mengis + im Auftrag, Luzern 1966 * Douglas Cooper: ''Picasso et le Théatre.'' Éditions Cercle d'Art, Paris 1967 * Douglas Cooper (Red.):
Graham Sutherland.
' Ausstellungskatalog. Haus d. Kunst München, 11. März – 7. Mai 1967; Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, 2. Juni – 30. Juli 1967; Haus am Waldsee Berlin, 11. Aug. – 24. Sept. 1967; Wallraf-Richartz-Museum Köln, 7. Okt. – 20. Nov. 1967 * Douglas Cooper (Hsg.):
Große Familiensammlungen.
' Droemer/Knaur, München/Zürich 1963 * Douglas Cooper (Übers. a. d. Franz. Jean Yves Mock):
César.
' Bodensee-Verlag, Amriswil 1970 * Douglas Cooper: ''The cubist epoch.'' Phaidon Press, London 1970 * Douglas Cooper:
Juan Gris.
' Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, Baden-Baden 1974 * Douglas Cooper (Margaret Potter, Juan Gris):
Juan Gris. Catalogue Raisonné de l'Oeuvre Peint (établi avec la collaboration de Margaret Potter.).
' Berggruen, Paris 1977

References

External links

* Obituary
''Douglas Cooper''
In: ''Die Zeit'', 27 April 1984, Nr. 18 * Douglas Cooper papers housed at the Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession No. 860161. The collection chronicles Douglas Cooper's long career as critic, curator, and collector, as well his wide circle of associations within the art world.
''Cooper, Douglas''
A Biographical Dictionary of Historic Scholars, Museum Professionals and Academic Historians of Art {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Douglas 1911 births 1984 deaths People educated at Repton School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge British art historians British art collectors Monuments men Royal Air Force personnel of World War II 20th-century British historians Slade Professors of Fine Art (University of Oxford) LGBT writers from England 20th-century LGBT people