This celebrated poster artist was born in Manitoba, the son of an Irish farmer, and studied at the Cardiff (Wales) School of Art before winning a scholarship to the Allan-Frazer College of Art in London. Beginning in 1922, Cooper worked in London as a poster designer for such clients as London and North Eastern Railway (LNER), Underground Electric Railway Company, Royal Mail Line, Indian State Railways, and London Transport. During this time, he also served as principal of Reimann School of Industrial Art. Public acclaim for his advertising designs and paintings led to a post-war show at the London Gallery in 1948, the first of many. Almost half a century after his death, his railway posters regularly command hundreds of dollars when they come up for sale at auction houses.