00:03This is the artist Beryl Cook's story.
00:06An unofficial video looking at the artwork of Beryl Cook from the 24th of January to 30th of May 2026
00:12in conjunction with the Box Museum and Art Gallery in Plymouth.
00:15In March to May 2026 there is an exhibition at Plymouth Box Museum and Art Gallery of Beryl Cook OBE.
00:22Beryl was born on the 10th of September 1926 and died on the 28th of May 2008.
00:30She was a British born painter known for original and instantly recognizable paintings.
00:36Often comical, her works pictured people whom she encountered in everyday life
00:41including people enjoying themselves in pubs, girls shopping or out on a head night,
00:46drag queens, shows or family picnics by the seaside or abroad.
00:52Beryl had no formal training and didn't take up painting until her thirties.
00:56She was a very shy and private person and then her work often depicted flamboyant and expert people
01:02far different to herself.
01:04Beryl admired the work of English artist Downey Spencer.
01:07His influence is evident in her compositions and bold bulky figures.
01:11Another influential artist was Bernard Boura who painted sleazy cafes, nightclubs, gay bars, sailors and prostitutes.
01:19Although unlike Boura, she did not paint the seedy side of the life.
01:23Although widely popular and recognized as one of the best known contemporary British artists,
01:28Cooke was never accepted by the British establishment, art establishment, nothing new there.
01:33Since her death in 2008, Beryl's son John and granddaughter Sophie have run the official Beryl Cooke's website
01:39providing insight into her life.
01:41Beryl Francis Lansley was born in Engham, Surrey, one of four sisters.
01:46Her parents, Adrian S. B. Lansley and Ella Farmer Francis separated very early
01:52and her mother moved to Reading, Berkshire, with her daughters.
01:56Beryl attended Kendrick School there, but left education at 14 and started to work in a variety of jobs.
02:03Having moved to London at the end of the Second World War, Beryl tried working as a model and showgirl
02:09in 1948.
02:10She married her childhood friend, John Cooke, who was in the Merchant Navy.
02:15When he retired from seafaring, the British ran a pub in Stoke by Nayland, Suffolk.
02:21Their son John was born in 1950.
02:23In 1956, the family moved to South Rhodesia, which is now Zimbabwe.
02:27They remained in Africa for the next decade, where in 1960, Cooke produced the first paintings.
02:32The family returned to England in the mid-1960s and in 1965, moved to East Lou Cornwall, where Beryl focused
02:39on her paintings.
02:40The family moved to Plymouth in 1968, where they bought a guesthouse on the hoe.
02:44Beryl divided a time between running the guesthouse and painting.
02:48In the mid-1970s, her work caught the eye of one of the guests, who was an actress at one
02:53of the theatres in Plymouth.
02:55That guest also visited Plymouth Art Centre, where she mentioned Beryl's art to the curator, Werner Samuels.
03:01She told Bernard that they must have an exhibition of her work at the Art Centre.
03:06Bernard showcased her work at Plymouth Art Centre in Lee Street in November 1975.
03:11The show was a great success, resulting in a magazine cover featured in the Sunday Times.
03:17This was followed by a 1976 exhibition at the Portal Gallery in London, where Beryl continued to exhibit regularly until
03:24her death.
03:25Beryl soon became, in the estimation, of Julian Spaulding, the most genuinely popular living artist in Britain.
03:31In 1979, a film was made by London Weekend's The South Bank Show with Melvin Bragg and Beryl Cook.
03:37In 1994, Beryl received the Best Selling Published Artist Award from the Fine Art Trade Guild.
03:43In 1995, she was awarded Order of the British Empire.
03:47She didn't attend the official ceremony because she was too shy, except in the honour to quite a ceremony in
03:53Plymouth.
03:54Beryl Cook died on the 28th of May 2008 at her home in Plymouth.
03:58Peninsula Arts and Plymouth University mounted a major retrospective of her work that year.
04:03And her work has been showcased in galleries across the country ever since.
04:07And in 2026, there's a major exhibition at the Box in Plymouth, which is the museum in Africa.
04:13Beryl was discovered when she had a guest house in Plymouth and she had pictures of her art on the
04:19walls in the guest house.
04:20And some people from the theatre that were staying with her mentioned her work to Bernad Samuels at Plymouth Arts
04:28Centre, which then existed.
04:31It was about 15 years ago.
04:33And then eventually Bernadine went to see her and had an exhibition of her work.
04:39And that's where she took off and became famous.
04:40So it's not necessarily who you are, it's who you know. It gets you famous.
04:46This is a sailor waiting to go into the Dolphin.
04:50One of Beryl's regular pubs.
05:26It was a sailor waiting to go into the sea to the northwest.
05:26And now, the G-1 E-3 Plymouth can be opened and opened and opened and opened and opened and
05:27opened.
05:27The L-E-3 Plymouth, the Ma-A-A-U-T-S-O-M-D-E-A-R-Y-N
05:27-E-A-R-Y-D-E-U-R.
05:29And now we're going to be back.
05:29And you can see her and we're going to go into the map.
05:30You can see your grid.
05:30And we'll go out and see her.
05:30The L-E-3 is available.
05:34And you can see her.
05:35And she's back there.
05:42And now outside the Bank pub at the back of the Theatre Royal which is quite often used
05:47by celebrities as they have a break from the Theatre Royal or after they've done their
05:52shows. And here's another mannequin or statue or caricature of Royal Cooks.
06:47And here's another mannequin.
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