Colin Campbell Cooper, Jr. was an American Impressionist painter, perhaps most renowned for his architectural paintings, especially of skyscrapers in New York City, Philadelphia, and Chicago. Born in Philadelphia, Cooper's father was a surgeon and his mother an artist. He attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) and studied under Thomas Eakins. He subsequently attended the Académie Julian in Paris from 1886 to 1890. Throughout his life he travelled extensively in the US, Europe and Asia. While in the Netherlands he met his future wife, the painter Emma Lampert (1855-1920). They married in Rochester NY in 1897. Cooper was particularly fond of monumental architecture and cityscapes as a subject. He was especially drawn to the contrast between smaller structures and skyscrapers, and how sunlight transformed what he called the "freakishness" of the towering forms. Cooper exhibited extensively throughout the US and his works are represented in the collections of many prominent Museums.