Empire

Robert Cottingham is known for imagery that celebrates the history of communications in America, specifically neon signage on urban storefronts and signs on railroad cars.

In 2008, Lincoln Center commissioned Robert Cottingham to commemorate the 46th anniversary of its Film Festival. Inspired by his earlier photographs of the Empire Theatre in Montgomery Alabama, this image was rendered as a screen print in an edition of 117. It is signed, dated, titled and numbered in pencil. *Please note: The frame is for reference purposes only. The impression is not framed.

Artist Statement about the : "About 14 years ago, I had a show at the Montgomery Museum of Art in Alabama. After the opening, the director took me aside and said, “You really ought to see this theater downtown.” The director’s assistant drove me downtown to the Empire, which was built in 1914. It was closed, but still standing… I learned that the bus Rosa Parks was on was actually stopped in front of this theater when the police were called to arrest her in 1955. After I had seen and photographed it, the theater was torn down. The Rosa Parks Library and Museum now stands on the site.” - Robert Cottingham, November 2010

In 2011, Forum Gallery curated an exhibition of nine paintings and drawings from 2008-2010, depicting the theater’s marquee in oil, watercolor, gouache and graphite.

Robert Cottingham was born in Brooklyn, NY and studied at the Pratt Institute. His works can be found in the collections of Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY; Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum of Art, New York, NY; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT; Sentra Museum, Berardo Collection, Lisbon, Portugal, and Boymans-von Beuningen Museum, Rotterdam, Netherlands, among others.