William Cotton
William Henry Cotton (July 22, 1880 – January 5, 1958) was an American portrait painter, caricaturist, and playwright. Cotton was born in Newport, Rhode Island in 1880. He studied painting with Joseph DeCamp and Andreas Anderson at the Cowles Art School in Boston, and then at the Académie Julian in Paris with Jean-Paul Laurens.
Also recorded as William Henry Cotton
William Cotton

William Cotton · Public domain
- Born
- 1880 · Newport.
- Died
- 1958 · New Jersey.
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- caricaturist · painter
- Education
- Académie Julian
- Honours
- Hallgarten Prize
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William Henry Cotton (July 22, 1880 – January 5, 1958) was an American portrait painter, caricaturist, and playwright. Cotton was born in Newport, Rhode Island in 1880. He studied painting with Joseph DeCamp and Andreas Anderson at the Cowles Art School in Boston, and then at the Académie Julian in Paris with Jean-Paul Laurens.
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Background
Background
He was a founder of the National National Association of Portrait Painters and a member of the Newport Art Association. Cotton exhibited at the National Academy of Design in New York City, the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and the Saint Louis Art Museum. He was also invited by the government of France to exhibit at the Musée du Luxembourg. In 1916, he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate Academician. • Illustration — Famous satirical pictorial map by Cotton After a successful career as a portrait painter, he began working as a caricaturist for Vanity Fair in 1931 and for The New Yorker the following year. In 1931, the New York Repertory Company produced a comedy he wrote, "The Bride the Sun Shines On", at the Fulton Theatre in New York. He also painted mural decorations for New York City theaters, including the Capitol, Apollo, Times Square, and Selwyn theaters. In 1958, Cotton died at his home in Sergeantsville section of Delaware Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey at the age of 77.

Caricatures of (from left) Hirohito of Japan, Carol II of Romania, and Hungarian Regent Miklós Horthy as "Carriers of the New Black Plague" (i. e. Fascism); cropped detail from a larger satirical map. Carol II wears a broche with the portrait of his lover Magda Lupescu (in the original caption: "Redheaded Heart on Sleeve").
William Henry Cotton
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1880
William Cotton was born on 22 July 1880.
1958
William Cotton died on 5 January 1958.
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Newport.
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New Jersey.
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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.Dearinger, David B. Paintings and Sculpture in the Collection of the National Academy of Design (Hudson Hills, 2004)
- 2.nytimes.com, Russel, An Art School That Also Taught Life, p.2
- 3.James A. Michener Art Museum. Accessed April 2, 2008.
- 4."Will Cotton, 77, Dead", The New York Times, January 6, 1958. Accessed April 2, 2008.
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William Cotton received Hallgarten Prize.
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 18 August 2026.
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- William D. WashingtonArtist
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