William Brown Cooper (1811–1900) was an American portrait painter from the state of

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

Early life

William Brown Cooper was born in 1811 near

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...

Smith County, Tennessee Smith County is a county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, the population was 19,166. Smith County is located in the region of the state known as Middle Tennessee. Its county seat is Carthage. The county was organized in ...

.Tennessee Portrait Project
/ref> His brother was the painter

Washington Bogart Cooper Washington Bogart Cooper (September 18, 1802 – March 30, 1888) was an American portrait painter, sometimes known as "the man of a thousand portraits".James Hoobler,Washington Bogart Cooper" ''Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture'' ...

(1802–1888).''Tennessee: A Guide to the State'', North American Book, 1949, p. 167
/ref> He was educated at the

National Academy Museum and School The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the fi ...

in New York City as well as in Paris and Rome for three years.

Career

Back in the United States, he started his career as a painter, and was active in Washington, D.C.,

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, Chicago,

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Little Rock, Arkansas (The Little Rock, The "Little Rock") , government_type = council-manager government, Council-manager , leader_title = List of mayors of Little Rock, Arkansas, Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_ ...

Natchez, Mississippi Natchez ( ) is the county seat of and only city in Adams County, Mississippi, United States. Natchez has a total population of 14,520 (as of the 2020 census). Located on the Mississippi River across from Vidalia in Concordia Parish, Louisiana, N ...

and Tennessee. In 1853, he painted a painting entitled ''Out of State''. He had a studio in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

for fifteen years. He later moved to

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

, followed by

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

in 1885. Cooper often signed his paintings the same way as his brother did, and he had a similar style, thus making it hard to know who painted which painting. However, one clue to distinguish their paintings is that he painted more portraits of children, and was more opulent in his choice of colors and painting material. In about 1885 he moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, with his son, Prof. John L. Cooper. They founded the Chattanooga School for Young Ladies, where William B. Cooper was in charge of the art department at the time of his death. His portrait, painted by

Johannes Adam Simon Oertel Johannes Adam Simon Oertel (3 November 1823 in Fürth, Bavaria – 9 December 1909) was a German Americans, German-American Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal clergyman and artist. Early life and education Oertel studied art in Germany a ...

(1823–1909), is owned by Sewanee: The University of the South in

Sewanee, Tennessee Sewanee () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Franklin County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 2,535 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Tullahoma, Tennessee Micropolitan Statistical Area. Sewanee is best known as the home of ...

.Smithsonian Institution: William Brown Cooper
/ref>

Death

Cooper died on May 2, 1900, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He was struck by an electric streetcar while crossing the street and attempting to dodge an automobile. "He was a very hale and hearty man at the time of his death," according to a death notice.

References

1811 births 1900 deaths People from Smith County, Tennessee National Academy of Design alumni American male painters American portrait painters Painters from Tennessee 19th-century American painters 19th-century American male artists {{US-painter-1810s-stub