This biography from the Archives of AskART:
|  The
following information is provided by Elfrieda Moroney and is from a
catalogue of an exhibition of the artist titled "John Wesley Cotton at
the Fine Art Society in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in MAY 1931".
AQUATINTS IN COLOUR BY JOHN COTTON
JOHN
COTTON -- Painter-Etcher - was born in Dundas, Ontario, Canada and
received his early art training in Toronto. Later he studied in Chicago
and in London, England. He has found subjects for pencil and brush in
England, Belgium, France and Spain, as well as in various part of the
United States and Canada. During the World War (1) he was stationed in
France with the Educational Corps of the A.E.F. after the armistice
having charge of the Etching Department of the University of Beaune.
For
the past twelve years his home has been in California, where the color
and charm of mountain, desert, moorland and sea have called forth his
best effort. Formerly a member of the O.S.A., he is a member of
California Art Club, California Water Color Society, also Print Makers
and Painters' and Sculptors' Club, all of Los Angeles, and the Chicago
Society of Etchers. His prints are to be found in the portfolios of
many collectors throughout the country and in many museums and
libraries: National Gallery, Ottawa (Canada); Art Museum,Toronto
(Canada); New York Public Library; Art Institute, Chicago;
Congressional Library, Washington; California State Library, Sacramento.
He
has exhibited in Florence, Italy; Paris; Royal Academy, London; Walker
Gallery, Liverpool, and the various well-known museums of Canada and
the United States.
MEDALS AND AWARDS
Gold Medal for Oil Painting, Pacific Southwest Exposition; also medal of Color Aquatint.
DeWolf Prize, Etching, Chicago Art Institute, 1915.
1st Prize, Water Color, Pomona, California, 1927.
1st prize, Water Color, Santa Cruz, California, 1928.
Gold Medal, Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco, 1915.
List of names of pictures on exhibit at Fine Art Society, Toronto(Canada) May 1931
1. Blossom Time
2. The Firs, Hampstead Heath
3. Beeches, Epping Forest
4. Eventide
5. Old Butterhouse, Bruges
6. Waiting for the Tide
7. Toilers of the Pyrenees
8. The Swans' Nest
9. Autumn Woodlands (which is the one I have)
10. New Year in Chinatown
11. The Walls of Carcassonue
12. Belfry of Bruges
13. Old Bridge, Bruges
14. Birthplace of Joan of Arc
15. A Belgian Farm
16. Silent Night
17. Cathedral, Bruges
18. French Dovecote
19. Sails of the Adriatic
20. Venetian Sails
Quoting from
"A WORKER IN AQUATINT"
by HARRY NOYES PRATT, in Overland Monthly
John
W. Cotton of Glendale is one of those artists of other birth who, having
served his apprenticeship elsewhere, comes home to California.
Extraordinarily versatile, he is finding outlet for his appreciation of
her beauty through a variety of channels. Paintings in oil and
watercolor, etching, drypoints, color aquatints even the sister arts of
poetry, music and drama, all a test his love for the state which has
been his for less than a decade.
During these years there came
to him increasing recognition. Exhibiting in all the important centers
in the United States and Canada, appearing as well in many of the
important European exhibitions, he was the recipient of many prizes and
honorable mentions. His prints have had showing in the Royal Academy of
London, and are included in many of the prominent private collections
as well as in the libraries, museum and galleries. Proof of his
recognition is found too, in his admittance to membership in the
representative art organizations of the country.
He is a
member of the Chicago Society of Etchers, the Print Makers of
California, the California Art Club, the California Water Color Society
- he is president of this organization- and in recognition of his high
ideals of friendship and loyalty among artists he was last year made
the first president of the newly organized Painters' and Sculptors'
Club of Los Angeles. This is a body similar in purpose to the famous
Salmagundi Club of New York and the Palette and Chisel Club, of which
he was a member while in Chicago.
Few etchers have either the
technical skill or the patience requisite to the successful production
of the aquatint. It is an art as far beyond the line etchings as that
is beyond the pencil sketch. It is an art which demands pure love of
the work for its sake. Perhaps when the present apathy of the public is
replaced by that appreciative fervor which will mean support of the
arts there may be an incentive to other etcher to follow in the
footsteps of the little group led by this artist of the south. Certainly
few things could be more effective in dissipating public apathy than
these exquisite creations of John W. Cotton of Glendale.
All the
above information was given by R. Roberts of the Art Library, Ontario
Hall, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
John Cotton born 1868 died November 24, 1931.
| |
This biography from the Archives of AskART:
|  John Cotton was a painter and etcher born in Toronto, Canada 1868. He attended the Chicago Art Institute and studied art in London in 1911 with E. Marsdon Wilson.
He traveled throughout Europe during World War I and lived in Belgium and France finding rich subject matter for his watercolors and oil paintings.
During the 1920's he lived in Glendale, California and exhibited in the first nine annual shows of the California Watercolor Society during those years. Cotton died in Toronto, Canada in 1931.
Member: Calif. PM Society; Glendale AA; ANA, 1916; Painters & Sculptors of LA (pres., 1920s).
Exh: Panama-Calif. Expo (San Diego), 1915 (award); AIC, 1915; Calif. Art Club, 1918-30; Calif. WC Society, 1921-29; LACMA, 1923; Ebell Club (LA), 1924, 1926; Friday Morning Club (LA), 1924, 1928; Calif. State Fair, 1926; Hatfield Gallery (LA), 1926; County Fair (LA), 1926 (1st prize); Artland Club (LA), 1927; Glendale AA, 1927; Pacific Southwest Expo (Long Beach), 1928; Architects Bldg (LA), 1929. In: NY Public Library; Library of Congress; AIC; CSL; Nat'l Gallery (Ottawa); Toronto Museum; Toronto Public Library; LACMA; Oakland Public Library.
| Source:
Edan Hughes, "Artists in California, 1786-1940"
LA Times, 11-30-1924; Fld; Ben; AAW; Sam; SCA; AAA 1919, 1932 (obit) | | Nearly 20,000 biographies can be found in Artists in California 1786-1940 by Edan Hughes and is available for sale ($150). For a full book description and order information please click here. |
| ** If you discover credit omissions or have additional information to add, please let us know at registrar@AskART.com. |
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John Cotton is also mentioned in these AskART essays:
The California Art Club
San Francisco Panama-Pacific Exhibition 1915
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