Henry Ives Cobb, Jr.

Henry Ives Cobb, Jr. (March 24, 1883 – August 1974) was an American artist and architect who lived and worked in New York, New York. He is known primarily for his paintings of scenes in and around Manhattan, especially Central Park. He was a member of the American Institute of Architects and the Art Students League of New York, as well as the Society of Independent Artists and the Royal Academy.

Cobb was born in Illinois, the first of ten children of architect Henry Ives Cobb and Emma Martin Smith.

In 1904, Cobb graduated cum laude from Harvard University, with honorable mention in the fine arts, and in August of that year he went to Paris to study architecture at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. In 1908, Cobb joined his father’s architecture firm at 42 Broadway, New York, New York. His daughter Margaret Baron Cobb was born the same year.

In June 1914, Cobb left his father's firm, his wife, and his two young children, to enroll at the Royal Academy of Munich, where he studied under Carl von Marr and historicist Gabriel von Hackl. Despite having worked as an architect for seven years, he identified himself as a “painter” on his passport application.

In his 30's, Cobb made a brief foray into stage and set design. He created the scenery for a Nora Bayes show in 1916, and designed the sets for the Jerome Kern / Guy Bolton / P.G. Wodehouse musical “Have a Heart,” which starred Billy B. Van and Louise Dresser. The musical opened at Broadway's Liberty Theater in January 1917 and was favorably reviewed by the New York Times. and the New York Sun. In April, the show played at the Capital in Washington, D.C. and was well received by the Washington Times. Cobb was also identified as creating the sets for Ruth Comfort Mitchell's "The Sweetmeat Game" which starred Olive Wyndham and ran at the Palace Theater in November 1916.

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