Skip to the content
Artist

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

Carriers of the New Black Plague, 1938. Well preserved example of the original artwork for this provocative satirical pictorial map, addressing the varying levels of control of free speech exercised around the world, drawn by William Henry Cotton. The illustration by Cotton, which served as the central double-page spread in the inaugural issue of Ken magazine, issued in April 1938, stands as a no

William Cotton · Public domain

Born
1880 · Newport.
Died
1958 · New Jersey.
Nationality
United States
Occupation
caricaturist · painter
Education
Académie Julian
Honours
Hallgarten Prize

VALÉORINE Encyclopedia

VALÉORINE documentary reading

Documentary summary

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.

Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE

Reference Check

Propose documentary evidence for William Cotton. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.

Sign in to contribute

World of VALÉORINE

Documentary connections

Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.

Documentary evidence

Documentary basis

Authority files

wikidata · Q8007152

In this article

  1. 01Biography
  2. 02Notes, references and evidence

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.

Elsewhere in Paintings

For owners

Own a work by William Cotton?

A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.