Walter William Spencer Cook

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 from New York University (working from 1926 to 1956) and he helped found the New York University Institute of Fine Arts. 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, Massachusetts, to parents Jan Macreal and William Jeremiah Cook.

Career In 1926, Cook joined New York University as faculty, and by 1932 he was made professor. Some of those recruited professors were in a visiting scholar or temporary appointment capacity, these included Erwin Panofsky, Walter Friedlaender, Karl Leo Heinrich Lehmann, Martin Weinberger, Adolph Goldschmidt, Otto Homburger, Marcel Aubert, Henri Focillon, Alfred Salmony, Rudolf Wittkower, Jurgis Baltrušaitis, Wolfgang Lotz, among others. and Mildred Steinbach.

In 1950, Cook and José Gudiol Ricart 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.

On 20 September 1962, he died at sea in the Atlantic Ocean, on the ocean liner Leonardo da Vinci returning home from Genoa.

Publications These are a select list of publications by Cook.

Books

Articles