This biography from the Archives of AskART:
|  Alphaeus Cole was born in Jersey City, New Jersey on 12 July 1876, the son of the engraver Timothy Cole (1852-1931). He would live to the phenomenal age of 112 († 25 November 1988), having witnessed America’s Centennial and Bicentennial, as well as other historic events including the Dreyfus trial and the Armory Show. Toward the end, he received letters from Presidents Carter and Reagan. Cole began in the Académie Julian under Laurens and Constant. The former criticized his drawing technique as tight and dry. Cole exhibited Dante Watching the Building of the Florentine Cathedral at the Salon of 1900 in Paris, and three years later he married Margaret Ward Warmsley, then returned to America. His painting, The Girl in the Mirror was exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in 1912. At the Armory Show he was depressed that “such fearful trash [could be] applauded. Worse still to find beautiful Corots and Whistlers along side of these daubs. We stayed about an hour then went on to dinner. . . .” Meanwhile, Cole had started to exhibit his works at the Art Institute of Chicago (1907-35).
At the National Academy of Design, Cole’s Summer Idyll was shown in 1915 and Under the Red Cross was exhibited there two years later. Two more works were hung “on the line” at the NAD in 1918, and yet another in their winter exhibition of 1919. Between 1924 and 1931 Cole taught at the Cooper Union. He was grateful for the position since commissions were hard to find. In 1924 his Green Shawl was hung “on the line” at the National Academy’s winter exhibition and he began to exhibit at the New York Water Color Club around that time. Cole served on various committees within that institution. His picture in the NAD’s 1926 show was Dolores of Spain, yet he was disappointed how poorly it was hung.
In 1928 Cole served as a judge along with Abbott Graves in the San Antonio Art League competition. Cole, who accompanied Robert Vonnoh on that trip, would have judged the works of artists from all over the country, including Augustus Dunbier from Nebraska. In 1930 Cole was named an Associate of the National Academy of Design. He continued to exhibit but less enthusiastically, through the Depression era. Apparently the public works programs did not appeal to him. He managed to take another trip abroad in the summer of 1934 (London, Paris, Florence) and in the following year he published a biography of his father, Timothy Cole, Wood Engraver.
In 1937 Cole was teaching at the Grand Central Art School. During this period he was taking on unusual themes: a painting with the intriguing title of The Blank Canvas, a work commissioned for St. Anthony’s Guild in a Franciscan monastery (St. Francis with the Birds), and Hunters of the Stone Age. Throughout his life, Cole complained about minor colds, coughs and indigestion, and was rather discouraged and morose. Little did he know in 1938 when he turned sixty-one, feeling depressed, that he would have almost fifty years to live. In the 1940s Cole turned to Catholicism and continued to produce portraits and win impressive prizes. His wife died in 1961 and only a few months later, he married an 88 year-old widow named Anita Higgins who had been married to the painter Eugene Higgins. They moved into the Chelsea Hotel.
Anita Higgins Cole died in 1971 at the age of ninety-nine. Cole told a newspaper reporter that he had always wanted to be a history painter “but portrait painting was more profitable. A good portrait painter is always in demand.” He celebrated his 100th birthday on 12 July 1976 and was declared a “walking tribute.” Indeed, he was quite a walker himself. At the age of eighty-five, for instance, he went from 89th Street to the Bowery on foot. The Salmagundi Club threw a party for Cole in 1981 when he turned 105. Cole maintained a pleasant realistic style in his portraiture. He declared his dislike for “modern art,” and was happy that the Academy “has not fallen for modernism but stuck to try to paint & get inspiration from nature.”
Submitted by Michael Preston Worley, Ph.D.; R.H. Love Galleries, Chicago
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This biography from the Archives of AskART:
|  The following is from Robert Young, Atlanta, Georgia. His source is the artist's obituary that appeared in the New York Times in 1988.
Alphaeus Cole was born July 12, 1876, and died Nov 25, 1988 at 112. A picture of him from 1903 was featured in the Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Mr. Cole married Margaret Ward Wamsley, a sculptor, in 1903 (died 1961)
and Anita Rio Higgins, a sculptor, in 1962 (died 1973). He joined
the Salmagundi Club in 1918, and was elected to the National Academy of
Design in 1930.
He was friends with John Singer Sargent and
William Meritt Chase. He studied in Paris at the Academie Julian and at
the Ecole des Beaux Arts.
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This biography from the Archives of AskART:
|  Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, Alphaeus Cole was a portraitist and
still life painter, teacher, illustrator and writer. His preferred
media were oil and watercolor. His father was Timothy Cole, noted wood
engraver.
From 1893 to 1901, he studied in Paris at the Academie
Julian with Jean Paul Laurens and Benjamin Constant and also studied in
Italy for many years. From 1924 to 1931, he taught portrait and still
life classes at Cooper Union.
He was a member of the Lyme
Connecticut Art Association, and from 1952 to 1953, was president of
the Allied Artists of America, and was an honorary member of the
National Arts Club.
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Biography from The Artisfun Gallery:
| Alphaeus Philemon Cole was born July 12, 1876 in Jersey City, New Jersey. From 1893 to 1901 he studied art in Paris at the Academie Julian with Jean Paul Laurens and Benjamin Constant and at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. He also studied in Italy for many years. Cole married Margaret Ward Wamsley, a sculptor, in 1903 (died 1961) and Anita Rio Higgins, a sculptor, in 1962 (died 1973). His preferred media were oils and watercolors.
He was a member of the National Academy of Design (ANA 1930, NA 1941, recording secretary 1950), the Allied Artists of America (president 1952-1953), the Salmagundi Club 1918, the Lyme Art Association, the National Arts Club (Honorary Life Member) , and the New York Water Color Club.
He exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1900, 1901, 1903, the Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo, 1901 (prize), the Royal Academy of Art, London, 1904-1910, the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Academy of Design 1910-1919, the Connecticut Academy of Fine Art 1920 (medal), the American Artists Professional League 1934 (medal), the Montclair Society of Artists 1934 (medal), the National Arts Club 1934 (prize), 1937 (prize), 1939 (prize), the Salmagundi Club 1943 (prize), 1970 (George Beline Prize), the Hudson Valley Art Association 1956 (Archer Huntington Prize), the American Water Color Society, and the Allied Artists of America 1972 (prize).
A picture of him from 1903 was featured in the Encyclopedia Britannica. He was friends with John Singer Sargent and William Merritt Chase. He held disdain for Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner. He taught portrait and still life classes in Cooper Union 1924-1931, and at the Grand Central Art School in New York City. Alphaeus Cole also co-authored a book about his father, titled Timothy Cole.
His work is represented in public and private collections in the US, including, the Florence Griswold Museum, the Georgia Museum of Art, the Museum of the City of New York, the National Academy of Design Museum, National Portrait Gallery, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the National Portrait Gallery, London, and numerous other collections.
Alphaeus Philemon Cole lived in New York City until his death on November 25, 1988 at age 112.
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