Description
This typical Rockport street scene is pictured in a DAC 1954 catalog, with several others, under the artist name Otis Cook. It is confusing because he has not signed it with his name. Perhaps he used a pseudonym, as many DAC artists did, to make it appear as if there were a larger stable of artists associated with the company. Remember that prints were offered in retail outlets, department stores, and furniture stores, and customers were buying the scenes, not the “up-and-coming” artists thus names were not relevant (unless they were recognized). We have no reason not to think this is the work of Cook but as we have no way to prove it, this charming little painting on unstretched canvas is being offered as “attributed to Otis Cook.” The image itself measures 12 1/2″ x 16″ with a white border totalling 14″ x 18″
Buyer pays for shipping which will be very inexpensive.
Otis Pierce Cook Jr. (1900–1980) was an American painter born in New Bedford, Massachusetts. He was mostly famous for his oil paintings of coastal and landscape scenes and studied under Emil Gruppe of Gloucester. He lived much of his life in Rockport, MA and Cape Ann was the focal point for much of his work. He was a member of the Rockport Art Association. In 1935, Cook had an art gallery on Bearskin Neck in Rockport and was a member of The Rockport Art Galleries along with William Lester Stevens, Joseph Eliot Enneking, Arthur J. Hammond, Marian Parkhust Sloane and Frank M. Rines.
His paintings are in the permanent collections of major museums and private collections across America, including in the Springfield Museum of Art.
