Cooper Astley David Middleton - The Tropical

Cooper Astley David Middleton (1856-1924) Born in St Louis, Missouri on December22, 1856, the son of Fannie Clark O'Fallen and Dr. David M Cooper, an eminent surgeon. At an early age, A.D.M. Cooper was fascinated with the Indian paintings of Geoge Catlin, a close friend of the Cooper family. After attending Washington University, he traveled throughout the West as an illustrator for Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper. At age 20, he was in the West at the time of Custer massacre and became famous as a painter of the Old West and Indians. In 1879,he moved to SF and became active with the local art association. Upon establishing a studio, he was in demand as a portraitist and painted several studies of General Ulysses S Grant. In 1883 he moved to East San Jose where he later built a unique studio-home in Egyptian style. He was an accomplished violinist and often sat in local orchestras. In his later years, he painted allegorical scenes with semi-nude women and several trompe l'oell studies. On rare occasion he signed his paintings "A. Dubernet" or "David Middleton" In his more lucid moments, Cooper was capable of producing masterpieces; however, due to his affinity for alcohol, his paintings are uneven in quality. He died in San Jose CA on September 19, 1924. Exhibited: Mechanics' Institute (San Francisco), 1893; Triton Museum (Santa Clara), 1976. Works held in San Jose Historical Museum, Western Art Museum (Tulsa, OK) Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Stanford Museum, Oakland Museum Gilcrease Institute; Smithsonian Institute; Whitney Gallery of Western Art (Cody, WY) Veterans Memorial Bldg (Oakland); Santa Cruz City Museum; Caesar's Palace( Las Vegas) San Jose Convention Center; California Historical Society.

22 1/2 x 26