William Thomas Cooper
William Thomas Cooper (born April 6, 1934 in Newcastle , New South Wales , † May 10, 2015 in Malanda , Queensland ) was an Australian landscape painter , animal painter and ornithologist .
Live and act
As a teenager, he worked as a taxidermist at the now-disused Carey Bay Zoo. After graduating from Newcastle Boys' High School, he worked as a manager in a men's clothing company. Influenced by his mentor William Dobell , he became a professional draftsman in 1964. While he was drawing a bird from a specimen in the Australian Museum , the ornithologist Keith Alfred Hindwood noticed him, who hired him as an illustrator for his book A Portfolio of Australian Birds , published in 1968 . His reputation as an excellent bird artist enabled Cooper to work with well-known ornithologists, including Joseph Michael Forshaw ( Parrots of the World , 1973), Clifford Brodie Frith and Bruce Beehler ( The Birds of Paradise: Paradisaeidae , 1998). Almost all of the originals of his drawings were sold closed. The original drawings from Parrots of the World went to the National Library of Australia , from Birds of Paradise and Bower Birds (1977) to the government of Papua New Guinea and the originals of the second edition of Australian Parrots (1981) and Kingfishers and Related Birds (1983–1994) went to a private collector. He also exhibited his pictures in one of the most renowned art exhibitions for animal painting, at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau , Wisconsin , USA. Cooper lived in the tropical rainforest in northern Queensland with his wife, Wendy, who often helped him with his work . Wendy Cooper wrote the text for Fruits of the Rainforest and with her botanical expertise she made an important scientific contribution to the works Cockatoos: A Portfolio of All Species (2001) and Turacos: A Natural History of the Musophagidae (2002). For these two books, the Coopers traveled to Africa in 1995 and through Australia and Singapore between 1998 and 1999 to draw the turacos and cockatoos in their natural habitat. Cooper continued to tour Japan , Malaysia and India .
In 1993, Cooper was the subject of the television documentary Portrait Painter to Birds by David Attenborough , who named him one of the best living scientific bird artists.
Honors
For his importance in nature painting, William Thomas Cooper received the gold medal of the Academy of Natural Sciences in 1990 and for his services in art and ornithology he was awarded the Order of Australia in 1994.
Works (selection)
- 1968 - A Portfolio of Australian Birds (text by Keith Alfred Hindwood )
- 1973 - Parrots of the World (text by Joseph Michael Forshaw )
- 1975 - The Year of the Koala (text by Henry Darvall Williamson)
- 1977 - The Birds of Paradise and Bower Birds (text by Joseph Michael Forshaw )
- 1981 - Australian Parrots (2nd edition, text by Joseph Michael Forshaw )
- 1983 - 1994 - Kingfishers and Related Birds (text by Joseph Michael Forshaw )
- 1993 - Visions of a Rainforest: A Year in Australia's Tropical Rainforest (text by Stanley Breeden )
- 1994 - Fruits of the Rainforest (text by Wendy Cooper)
- 1997 - Turacos: A Portfolio of All Species (text by Joseph Michael Forshaw )
- 1998 - The Birds of Paradise: Paradisaeidae (text by Clifford Brodie Frith and Bruce Beehler )
- 2001 - Cockatoos: A Portfolio of All Species (text by Joseph Michael Forshaw )
- 2002 - Turacos: A Natural History of the Musophagidae (text by Joseph Michael Forshaw )
- 2002 - Australian Parrots (3rd revised edition, text by Joseph Michael Forshaw )
- 2011 - Capturing the Essence - Techniques for Bird Artists
- 2015 - Pigeons and doves in Australia (text by Joseph Michael Forshaw )
literature
- Cooper, William T., 1934- . In: Trove. Catalog. (Database on-line) . National Library of Australia . Retrieved July 23, 2012.
- Rosanne Walker: Biographical entry Cooper, William Thomas (1934-) . In: Encyclopedia of Australian Science . May 24, 2006. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
- Penny Olsen : An Eye for Nature, The Life & Art of William T. Cooper . National Library of Australia, 2014. ISBN 978-0642278463
- The bird painter William Cooper dies in Australia at the age of 81. In: Parrots No. 6 2015, p. 185
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bird illustrator William Cooper dies at home in far north Queensland
- ↑ Parrots 6/2015, p. 185.
- ↑ Anita Beaumont: Bird artist William T. Cooper dies aged 81 In: The Herald of May 12, 2015.
Web links
- Birds in Art - William T. Cooper ( Memento from February 17, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
- Official website
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Cooper, William Thomas |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Cooper, William T. |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Australian landscape painter, animal painter and ornithologist |
DATE OF BIRTH | April 6, 1934 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Newcastle , New South Wales, Australia |
DATE OF DEATH | May 10, 2015 |
Place of death | Malanda , Queensland |