Artist

William Couper

born Norfolk, VA 1853-died Easton, MD 1942
Media - couper_william.jpg - 89970
Courtesy William Couper and Couper Family Papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Born
Norfolk, Virginia, United States
Died
Easton, Maryland, United States
Active in
  • Florence, Italy
  • New York, New York, United States
Biography

William Couper was born in Norfolk, Virginia, where his father owned a profitable stoneworks. As a boy, William played in the marble lots watching artisans make statues. He decided to become a sculptor and trained in New York City, Munich, and in Florence, where he made portraits and idealized busts. He married and started a family in Italy, but decided to move back to America, where he built a large home in New Jersey and shared a studio in New York City with the sculptor Thomas Ball. Couper retired from sculpting in 1913 and painted seascapes in oil and watercolors until his death.

Works by this artist (3 items)

Nancy Holt, Robert Smithson, Swamp, 1971, 6 minutes, color, sound, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible by the Ford Motor Company, 2007.33.18, © 1971 The Holt/Smithson Foundation. Courtesy Electronic Arts Intermix, NY
Swamp
Date1971
6 minutes, color, sound
Not on view
Nancy Holt, Underscan, 1973-1974, single-channel video, black and white, sound; 09:12 minutes, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase made possible by the Ford Motor Company, 2007.33.17, © 1973-1974The Holt/Smithson Foundation. Courtesy Electronic Arts Intermix, NY
Underscan
Date1973-1974
single-channel video, black and white, sound; 09:12 minutes
Not on view
Nancy Holt, Maquette for Annual Ring, 1980, mixed media: assembled plexiglass, press tape, fiberboard, paperboard and wood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the General Services Administration, Art-in-Architecture Program, 1984.13.2
Maquette for Annual Ring
Date1980
mixed media: assembled plexiglass, press tape, fiberboard, paperboard and wood
Not on view