Sidney Cooper, Thomas

Thomas Sidney Cooper began his career in art upon the encouragement of Sir Thomas Lawrence, and the unrelated animal painter, Abraham Cooper. Cooper entered the Royal Academy Schools, London, in 1823 and subsequently taught in Brussels from 1827 to 1831. While there, he met and was greatly influenced by Eugene Ver Boeckhoven, and became familiar with 17th Century painters such as Aelbert Cuyp and Paulus Potter. Cooper returned to London in 1831, where he remained until his death, and proceeded to become one of the longest continuous exhibitors in the Royal Academy’s history. He showed 266 works without pause from 1833 – 1902 at the Academy; he also exhibited at the Royal Society of British Artists and the British Institution. Cooper’s paintings were almost exclusively of cattle, but despite his narrow subject choice and prolific output, the quality of Cooper’s paintings remained quite high. Upon his death in 1902, the contents of his studio were sold at Christie’s.