Coulton Waugh

"Fog and Brook" Mid Century Impressionistic Oil Painting by Central Park

Circa 1950

Coulton Waugh was born in 1896 in Cornwall, England. He was an American visual artist, son of maritime painter Frederick Judd Waugh, and grandson of the Philadelphia portrait painter, Samuel Waugh. In 1907, his family moved to the United States, he grew up in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and later made his home in Newburgh, New York. Over there, Waugh was enrolled at New York's Art Students League, where he studied with George Bridgman, Frank Dumond and John Carlson. By 1916, Coulton was employed as a textile designer. In 1921, he moved to Provincetown, Massachusetts, where he operated a model ship and hooked rug shop for 11 years. As a part of an artistic family, Waugh was a painter, comic strip artist and author. As he lived in New York, he is often known for the artistic work in marine scenes, still life compositions and cartoons. Also was one of the main artists who worked on the famous Dickie Dare comics, created by Milton Caniff. He was working on the strip for more than 20 years, from 1933–57, and there is where Waugh met his future wife, Odin, after hiring her to work on the strip as an artist and letterer. In 1945, he created Hank which only ran a short time. From 1947 on, Waugh divided his time between painting, teaching art and writing a seminal history of cartooning called The Comics in 1947 as a reference on the history of comics, which became one of the first serious examinations of the medium, as well as instructional books on cartooning and palette-knife painting. In Provincetown, he created other pictorial maps or decorative maps, including ones of Provincetown of 1924, Cape Cod of 1926 and Newburgh, New York in 1958. His map of California of 1948 was a collaboration with his wife Odin Burvik (Mabel Burwick). His paintings were displayed at New York's Hudson D. Walker Gallery, and he also was known for his pictorial maps and hand-colored lithographs, like the one exhibited of a Cape Cod map at the International Silk Show in the year 1918. Some other exhibitions where his artworks participated was at the National Academy of Design and the Provincetown Art Association. Among the Museum exhibitions that showcased his pieces are the Art Institute of Chicago, Carnegie Institute (International), Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and Whitney Museum of American Art. Grand Central Art Galleries, New York City, used to hold a notable representation of his artworks. Waugh died in 1973.