George Esten Cooke (1793-1849)
George Cooke, born in Maryland in 1793, traveled all along the east coast painting portraits and landscapes. He spent five years in Europe studying art. In 1848, while traveling in Georgia he met Daniel Pratt, a wealthy industrialist who became a patron and gave Mr. Cooke two floors of his warehouse to be used as his gallery. Mr. Cooke exhibited at the Boston Athenaeum and his work can be seen at West Point, NY, The White House, The Valentine Museum, Richmond, VA and Shelburne Museum, VT. George Cooke passed away in 1849 in Athens, Georgia.
Information courtesy of Cowan’s Auctions Inc.