Robert Cottingham
Robert Cottingham (born 26 September 1935 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American artist known for his paintings and prints of urban American landscapes, showing building facades, neon signs, movie marquees, railroad heralds, and shop fronts. Cottingham is usually classified as a photorealist. He characterizes his paintings as belonging to a tradition of American vernacular scenes painted by Stuart Davis, Charles Demuth, Edward Hopper, and Charles Sheeler.
Robert Cottingham
Leon petrosyan · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Name
- Robert Cottingham
- Born
- 26 September 1935
- Birthplace
- Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
- Known for
- Painting
- Training
- B.F.A., Pratt Institute, New York
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- painter · printmaker · artist
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q1355414 · wikipedia · Robert Cottingham
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Institutions cited
Bibliothèque nationale de France · Getty Union List of Artist Names
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Biography
Biography
Cottingham was influenced by his background in advertising and typography, and consequently connects his work to Pop art. Cottingham turned to painting full-time after his first successful solo exhibitions in 1968. He began showing at the OK Harris Gallery in New York in 1971. In 1974, he was awarded a grant by the National Endowment for the Arts. Cottingham is a two-time recipient of fellowships from MacDowell. In 1990, he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate Academician, and became a full Academician in 1994. A retrospective of Cottingham's prints took place at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in 1999.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Robert Cottingham • Birth Name — Robert Cottingham • Born — 26 September 1935 • Birthplace — Brooklyn, New York, U.S. • Known for — Painting • Training — B.F.A., Pratt Institute, New York • Patrons — Louis K. Meisel
Documentary record
Robert Cottingham (born 26 September 1935) is recorded as a painter and printmaker. Robert Cottingham was born on 26 September 1935.
Selected collections
Selected collections
• Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum • Smithsonian American Art Museum • Whitney Museum • National Gallery of Art • Museum of Modern Art • Art Institute of Chicago • Madison Museum of Contemporary Art • Buffalo AKG Art Museum • Yale University Art Gallery
Documents and archives
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Robert Cottingham”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q1355414: Robert Cottingham
General reference · Wikidata
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Robert Cottingham, revision 1364529362 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Robert Cottingham. The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation.
- 2.Robert Cottingham. Galerie Georges-Philippe & Nathalie Vallois.
- 3.Photorealism by Louis K. Meisel. Abradale/Abrams, New York, NY, (1989).
- 4.Robert Cottingham: An American Alphabet. The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum.
- 5.Robert Cottingham - Artist. MacDowell.
- 6.Robert Cottingham. nationalacademy.emuseum.com.
- 7.Hathaway, Bruce. The Beauty in the Blight. Smithsonian Magazine.
- 8.Robert Cottingham. The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation.
- 9.Robert Cottingham Smithsonian American Art Museum. americanart.si.edu.
- 10.Robert Cottingham. whitney.org.
- 11.Robert Cottingham National Gallery of Art. www.nga.gov.
- 12.Robert Cottingham MoMA. The Museum of Modern Art.
- 13.Robert Cottingham. The Art Institute of Chicago. 1935.
- 14.Robert Cottingham. Madison Museum of Contemporary Art.
- 15.Robert Cottingham Buffalo AKG Art Museum. buffaloakg.org.
- 16.Collection Yale University Art Gallery. artgallery.yale.edu.
References
Citations
References
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reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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