Born in Surrey, England, Beryl Cook is a painter of scenes of humanity that are often humorous because of the distorted shapes of the figures and the situations in which they are placed. She has been described as a "Rubens with jokes" and "as a shy and private person, often depicting the flamboyant and extrovert characters she would love to be. She prefers to observe a crowd of people, her acute eye missing nothing. She records in minute detail scenes of everyday life and has an almost photographic memory.

Of her paintings, she says: I don't know how my pictures happen; they just do. They exist, but for the life of me I can't explain them."

Although Beryl Cook travels extensively, her home has remained in England where she maintains a studio in Plymouth. Her talent received little attention beyond her immediate area until the mid 1970s when an exhibition of her painting was held at the Plymouth Art Centre. Organized by Bernard Samuels, Director of the Centre, the show was a huge success and was even featured on the cover of the London Sunday Times Magazine. This attention led to successful gallery representation in London, and a 1979 film for the South Bank Show.

Raised in Surrey with three sisters, she gave no indication as a young woman that she would become a painter. In 1943 at age seventeen, she went to London where she took a job in fashion industry, inspiring her life-long interest in people and the way they presented themselves. She also joined the cast of a touring show, The Gypsy Princess.

In 1946, she married John Cook, whom she had known from childhood, and after his retirement from the Merchant Marines, they ran a pub. In 1950, they had a son and the next year moved to Southern Rhodesia, which became a turning point in the career of Beryl because that is where she began painting, having picked up some coloring supplies of her son's. At first, she painted on a variety of surfaces---anything that was handy---including a breadboard on which she did an early work, Bowling Ladies. Ultimately she settled on wood panels as the ground of choice for her paintings.

The family returned to England in 1963 and lived first in Cornwall and shortly after settled in Plymouth. During this period, she dedicated herself seriously to her painting. In Plymouth, a town filled with pubs and seaside activity related to fishermen and sailors, she found much inspiration for her work that combined both whimsy and serious social commentary. She and her husband ran a boarding house to earn money, and for diversion, spent much time going to bars where they saw a lot of the 'human scene' including "flamboyant drag acts." Much of her work continues to derive from those settings.


Source:
Beryl Cook website: http://www.berylcook.org

For some viewers, Beryl Cook's work is particularly interesting when viewed in the context of the tradition of British social realist painting, and she could easily be described as a contemporary Hogarth or Gilray, although she has a more sympathetic view of the human race.

Her work, like that of those painters, is from the vantage point of the social observer. She records human frailties and the absurdities of human behavior with her own unique vision.

Beryl's personality, however, is in great contrast to her paintings. She is a shy and private person, often depicting the flamboyant and extrovert characters she would love to be. She prefers to observe a crowd of people, her acute eye missing nothing. She records in minute detail scenes of everyday life and has an almost photographic memory.