Lot 1139: Willard Cooper (Texas/Louisiana, b. 1921)

Willard Cooper (Texas/Louisiana, b. 1921), "By the River, Shreveport", oil on canvas, signed lower right, 26 in. x 32 in., period frame Note: Born in Denison, Texas, Willard Cooper studied with Texas Regionalist artists Don Brown and Thomas Stell. Cooper earned a BA from Centenary College in Shreveport and MFA from Escuela Universitaria de Bellas Artes in Mexico. He became head of the Art Department at Columbia College in South Carolina from 1949 to 1958. Cooper returned to Louisiana in 1958 and became the Chairman of the Art Department at Centenary College and eventually founding Director and Curator of the college's Meadows Museum. While working at Centenary College, Cooper painted this charming scene of downtown Shreveport along the Red River.

Starting bid: 700