Walter William Spencer Cook, also known as Walter W. S. Cook in citation (7 April 1888 – 20 September 1962) was an American art historian and professor. He specialized in Spanish Medieval art history. He was an

emeritus professor ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

(working from 1926 to 1956) and he helped found the

New York University Institute of Fine Arts New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

. He had a prominent role in introducing eminent German art historians to the United States.

Early life and education

Walter William Spencer Cook was born on 7 April 1888 in

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, to parents Jan Macreal and William Jeremiah Cook. He attended

Phillips Exeter Academy Phillips Exeter Academy (often called Exeter or PEA) is an Independent school, independent, co-educational, college-preparatory school in Exeter, New Hampshire. Established in 1781, it is America's sixth-oldest boarding school and educates an es ...

for high school, followed by studies at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. He received his B.A. degree in 1913, and M.A. degree in 1915 from Harvard and after he was a teaching assistant in the Fine Arts Department. From 1917 to 1919, he attended the

American Expeditionary Force The American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) was a formation of the United States Armed Forces on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during World War I, composed mostly of units from the United States Army, U.S. Army. The AEF was establis ...

, during World War I. From 1920 until 1921, Cook was a fellow in the Medieval and Renaissance Studies. Cook received his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from Harvard University in 1924, his dissertation was titled, ''Romanesque Panel Painting in Catalonia'' (1924). His doctoral advisor was

Chandler Rathfon Post Chandler Rathfon Post (1881–1959) was an American art historian and professor. He was a professor emeritus at Harvard University (working from 1909 until 1950), focused as a historian of Spanish and Italian Renaissance art and iconography. Post ...

Career

In 1926, Cook joined New York University as faculty, and by 1932 he was made professor. By 1935, he was made a director of the graduate center and started recruiting eminent art history professors that were fleeing Germany (as Adolf Hitler's leadership was growing). Some of those recruited professors were in a visiting scholar or temporary appointment capacity, these included

Erwin Panofsky Erwin Panofsky (March 30, 1892 – March 14, 1968) was a German-Jewish art historian whose work represents a high point in the modern academic study of iconography, including his hugely influential ''Renaissance and Renascences in Western Art ...

Walter Friedlaender Walter may refer to: People and fictional characters * Walter (name), including a list of people and fictional and mythical characters with the given name or surname * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1 ...

, Karl Leo Heinrich Lehmann, Martin Weinberger,

Adolph Goldschmidt Adolph Goldschmidt (15 January 1863 – 5 January 1944) was a Jewish German art historian. He taught at University of Berlin from 1892 to 1903, and University of Halle from 1904 to 1912. Biography He was born on 15 January 1863 in the Free and ...

, Otto Homburger,

Marcel Aubert Marcel Aubert (April 9, 1884 – December 28, 1962) was a French art historian. Life Marcel Aubert was the son of an architect who died when he was only seven years old. Following his studies at the Lycée Condorcet, he entered the École Nati ...

Henri Focillon Henri Focillon (7 September 1881 – 3 March 1943) was a French art historian. He was the son of the printmaker Victor-Louis Focillon. He was Director of the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Lyon. Professor of Art History at the University of Lyon, at the ...

, Alfred Salmony,

Rudolf Wittkower Rudolf Wittkower (22 June 1901 – 11 October 1971) was a British art historian specializing in Italian Renaissance and Baroque art and architecture, who spent much of his career in London, but was educated in Germany, and later moved to the Unit ...

Jurgis Baltrušaitis Jurgis Baltrušaitis (2 May 1873 – 3 January 1944) was a Lithuanian Symbolist poet and translator who wrote in Lithuanian and Russian, and was an exponent of iconology. He was the father of art historian and critic Jurgis Baltrušaitis Jr. ...

Wolfgang Lotz Wolfgang Lotz (; 6 January 1921 – 13 May 1993), who later adopted the Hebrew name Ze'ev Gur-Arie, was an Israeli spy in Egypt during the 1960s providing intelligence and conducting operations against Egyptian military scientists. He was arr ...

, among others. Cook had many notable students, including

Harry Bober Harry Bober (September 2, 1915 – June 17, 1988) was an American art historian, a university professor, and a writer. He was the first Avalon Professor of the Humanities a New York University (NYU). He wrote and edited several books and publ ...

, and

Mildred Steinbach Mildred Steinbach (22 December 1906 – 28 September 2002) was an art historian and the fourth Chief Librarian of the Frick Art Reference Library. Education Steinbach graduated from Vassar College, Poughkeepsie in 1929. She received a master's ...

. In 1950, Cook and

José Gudiol Ricart Josep Gudiol i Ricart, also known as José Gudiol in citation (1904–1985), was a Catalan art historian, specializing in Catalan Romanesque painting, Gothic painting and other types of Spanish art. Biography Josep Maria Gudiol i Ricart was b ...

issued ''Pintura e Imagineria Romanicas'' for the important Ars Hispaniae book series''.'' Cook was one of only two English-speaking scholars author a volume in the set, and one of very few foreign authors. Cook built up the photographic archive of Spanish

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

s at the

Frick Art Reference Library Photoarchive The Frick Art Research Library’s Photoarchive in New York is a study collection of more than 1.5 million photographic reproductions of works of art from the fourth to the mid-twentieth century. It was founded in 1920 by Helen Clay Frick to faci ...

in New York City. In 1953, a special exhibition was held in his honor at

The Cloisters The Cloisters, also known as the Met Cloisters, is a museum in the Washington Heights, Manhattan, Washington Heights neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City. The museum, situated in Fort Tryon Park, specializes in European medieval art ...

in New York City. Starting in 1936 he was a fellow of the

Medieval Academy of America The Medieval Academy of America (MAA; spelled Mediaeval until ) is the largest organization in the United States promoting the field of medieval studies. It was founded in 1925 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The academy publishes the q ...

; from 1938 the president of the

College Art Association The College Art Association of America (CAA) is the principal organization in the United States for professionals in the visual arts, from students to art historians to emeritus faculty. Founded in 1911, it "promotes these arts and their understan ...

, becoming the honorary director in 1947; he was awarded the Gold Order of Isabella la Catolica and the Medal of the Hispanic Society of America. In the 1940s, Cook served on the editorial board of '' Art in America'' magazine. On 20 September 1962, he died at sea in the Atlantic Ocean, on the

ocean liner An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). The ...

Leonardo da Vinci returning home from

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

Publications

These are a select list of publications by Cook.

Books

* * *

Articles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Walter William Spencer 1888 births 1962 deaths People from Orange, Massachusetts New York University faculty New York University Institute of Fine Arts faculty American Hispanists American art historians American medievalists Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America Harvard University alumni Phillips Exeter Academy alumni Presidents of the College Art Association