Robert Cottingham

Robert Cottingham was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1935, and currently lives and works in Connecticut. Cottingham is considered part of the first generation of Photorealists along with Chuck Close, Richard Estes and John DeAndrea.

When Cottingham was twelve years old in 1947, he visited New York City with his father, experiencing the grand vibrations of destinations like Times Square for the first time. He had a similar revelation when seeing Edward Hopper at the Whitney Museum of American Art that same year. Encounters such as these would be hugely decisive for him later in life. Fascinated by the typography that decorated the visual landscape of the United States, Cottingham began a career as an art director for the New York advertising agency Young and Rubicam. He was eventually relocated to Los Angeles, where the kitschy relics of bygone eras and a radical atmosphere ignited a spark within him and encouraged him to paint every day after work. This is when Cottingham began taking his art seriously, creating one of his very first paintings, Bus II, in 1965, which is included in this exhibition after previously being shown at our booth at TEFAF New York, 2024. In 1968, Cottingham left advertising behind, devoting all his time to his art.

The term Photorealism refers to the great value of photography within an artist’s technique, something that Cottingham’s practice majorly revolves around. By translating a photograph into a black and white study, Cottingham captivates realistic shadows and details in his images. After this step, a subsequent colored study is brought to life. His method then involves projecting these gridded studies onto a canvas, utilizing them as guides that allow for the achievement of Photorealism. Cottingham has often rejected this label, however, as he does not view his works as mere reproductions of reality, but more so reinterpretations, sometimes even going as far as consciously altering words in his facades, thus reimagining their meanings. The iconography of Cottingham’s works irrefutably captivates the American vernacular through recognizable motifs and nostalgic commercial landscapes.

Robert Cottingham (Brooklyn, New York, b. 1935) has been represented by Galerie Georges-Philippe & Nathalie Vallois since 2019. He has been featured in group exhibitions including Hyperréalistes Americains - Réalistes Européens, Centre National d’Art Contemporain, Paris (1974); Art About Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (1978); Robert Bechtle, Chuck Close, Robert Cottingham, Malcolm Morley, Sigmar Polke, Pat Hearn Gallery, New York (1989); and That’s All Folks!, Galerie GP & N Vallois, Paris (2021). Solo exhibitions include Molly Barnes Gallery, Los Angeles (1968); O.K. Harris Gallery, New York (1971); Marisa del Re Gallery, New York (1993); Eyeing America, National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C. (1998-99); Still Lifes, Forum Gallery, New York (2000); Fictions in the Space Between, Galerie GP & N Vallois, Paris (2019). Major public collections include the Solomon R. Guggenheim, New York; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Tate Modern, London; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois; Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C.; Walker Art Center, Minnesota.