🖌️🎨Beryl Cook (1926-2008)

 🖌️🎨Beryl Cook (1926-2008) - English artist, representative of naive painting.

Of course, there is a difference between an amateur and a naive artist. An amateur paints for pure pleasure, and considers this activity his hobby. However, a naive artist, not being a professional, continues to work and learns to use traditional techniques, but this does not mean that his painting is imperfect.
In addition, a naive artist is more obsessive, and his lack of academic training often leads to the development of a bright individual style. And this is true for Beryl Cook, who became famous throughout the country in the first four years of her work.
The artist was born in Reading, Surrey (southern England), 40 km west of London.
After finishing school and working at many different jobs, in 1943 she moved to London, where she joined a burlesque theater called The Gypsy Princess as an actress.
She created her first painting only at the age of 37.
In 1946, she married a sailor of the Royal Navy, in 1950 they had a son, and the following year the family was expecting a long move to the African English colony of Southern Rhodesia. It was there on the map of her life that she met the turning point that determined her entire future destiny.
One day, a young mother picked up an abandoned, unfinished drawing of her little son from the floor - she decided to finish it. It was an epiphany! Now there was nothing left in the house that was not decorated with Beryl Cook's simple plots.
There, Beryl also painted the first portrait of her neighbor - a large Indian woman. This portrait remained her only work until she and her family returned to England in 1963, where they settled in the city of sailors and pubs - Plymouth. In the summer they spent a lot of time in bars, watching the eccentricities and outrages of fishermen returning from sea. And in the winter Beryl devoted herself entirely to painting.
And then, miraculously, her style was born, full of natural humor, satirical, but at the same time benevolent. It reflects the weaknesses of human nature and the touching comedy of everyday life.
Beryl's path to fame is phenomenal. It all began with the fact that a local antique shop exhibited several of her works. Then followed exhibitions in Plymouth, Bristol and London, accompanied by the release of books and TV programs dedicated to Beryl Cook.
In 1975, she had a solo exhibition at the Plymouth Arts Centre, and two years later her naive paintings were exhibited in prestigious galleries in London. It was a real success! As the newspapers said, Beryl Cook had won the hearts of the British. At that time, she became one of the most famous artists in Great Britain.
Despite her success, Beryl worked constantly. She always carried a pencil and paper for sketches. This is how the plots for her paintings were born - they were simply spied on in the everyday life of the British. She became a real chronicler of her time.
It is interesting that Beryl was the exact opposite of her paintings. In her paintings, we often see self-confident people, extroverts with their noses up in the air, while Beryl herself was a shy person who preferred not to stand out from the crowd.
One of the most positive British artists of the 20th century passed away in May 2008, but to this day, galleries in Europe regularly open exhibitions dedicated to her bright work.

Sources: vsemart; Pinterest; Wikipedia; funtattoo.