Alexander Cooper (11 December 16091660) was an English Baroque
miniature painter.
Biography
Cooper was born in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, the elder brother of the painter
Samuel Cooper. He learned painting from
Peter Oliver (painter) and was active in London from 1633 to 1642, whereupon he traveled to
The Hague
The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
.
[Alexander Cooper]
in the RKD
The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: ), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center in the world. The center specializes in document ...
He is registered there as a member of The Hague
Guild of Saint Luke from 16441646.
After a short stay in Amsterdam, he travelled to
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
in 1646 to work as
court painter for
Queen regnant
A queen regnant (: queens regnant) is a female monarch, equivalent in rank, title and position to a king. She reigns ''suo jure'' (in her own right) over a realm known as a kingdom; as opposed to a queen consort, who is married to a reigning ...
.
[Joan Couper]
in ''De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen'' (1718) by Arnold Houbraken, courtesy of the Digital library for Dutch literature According to Houbraken he was considered the best portrait miniaturist in watercolors of his time.
He succeeded
David Beck as official court painter when Beck returned to The Hague.
His Swedish documents declare that he was
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
, and that his full name was Abraham Alexander Cooper. He had previously been residing in the
United Provinces, but on reaching Sweden entered the service of Christina, and continued to be her miniature painter until 1654, when she resigned the crown. Two years later, Cooper was in
Denmark
Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
, carrying out some commissions for
Christian IV of Denmark but in 1657 was back again in
Stockholm
Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
, where he died in the early part of 1660, aged fifty.
His works are of great rarity, and the chief are a series representing
Frederick V, Elector Palatine and
Elizabeth of Bohemia as well as their children. Including
Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine,
Elisabeth of Bohemia, Princess Palatine,
Prince Rupert of the Rhine,
Edward, Count Palatine of Simmern and
Sophia of the Palatinate. By the late nineteenth century these portraits were in the possession of
Wilhelm II of Germany. At the same time some very remarkable portraits were owned by
Wilhelmina of the Netherlands
Wilhelmina (; Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria; 31 August 1880 – 28 November 1962) was List of monarchs of the Netherlands, Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 until her abdication in 1948. She reigned for nearly 58 years, making her the longest- ...
, and others were in the possession of
Gustav V of Sweden and various
Swedish galleries.
He is probably the same painter as ''Ioannes Coepers'' of England ''well-known at the English court'' in
Cornelis de Bie's book of painters called
Het Gulden Cabinet.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Alexander
1609 births
1660 deaths
Painters from London
British Baroque painters
Jewish painters
English Jews
English portrait miniaturists
Swedish Jews
Painters from The Hague
English court painters