Rook studied at the
Art Students League of New York, 1889–91, under
John Twachtman. Rook returned to the United States in 1900, and married a childhood friend, Edith Stone, in 1901. Rook collected cars and built a house around his garage, although he never learned to drive. He exhibited regularly at the
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts from 1897 to 1913 and 1917 to 1919, which awarded him its 1898
Temple Gold Medal (for
Pearl Clouds—Moonlight). He was awarded a bronze medal at the 1901
Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York (for
Pearl Clouds—Moonlight,
The Mountain Brook, and
The Inn—Moonlight); two silver medals at the
1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri (for his oil-on-canvas landscapes of Mexico, and for a pastel:
Horse Market); a silver medal at the 1910
Exposición Internacional del Centenario in
Buenos Aires, Argentina (for
Canada in Snow); and a gold medal at the 1915
Panama-Pacific International Exhibition in San Francisco (for
Snow, Ice and Foam). The
Corcoran Gallery of Art awarded him its 1919 bronze medal (for
Peonies). He exhibited at the
Lyme Art Association from 1904 to 1943, which awarded him its 1929 first prize (for
Reflections in a Samovar). He was elected an Associate of the
National Academy of Design in 1908, and an Academician in 1924. His works are also in the collections of the
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the
National Academy Museum, the
Cincinnati Art Museum, the
New Britain Museum of American Art and other museums, along with various Connecticut institutions. ==References==