Buy Two Beryl Cook Paintings With One Bid

It is not often that you get the opportunity to bid for an original Beryl Cook (1926-2008) painting, and even more rare to have the chance to bid for two, particularly when they are presented back to back in one painting. Now collectors of her easily identifiable, often comical, and engaging artworks are expected to be out in force to bid for an impressive double-sided painting at Plymouth Auction Rooms next month.

The painting has been consigned to auction by a private collector from the North of England, who recognised that the strongest interest for Beryl Cook art is in her hometown of Plymouth.

The impressive sized double painting has two titles. The first is ‘French Tango’, which depicts an energetic couple dancing away in very much the classic style of Beryl Cook with strong caricature faces. The reverse of the painting is more unusual, and is titled ‘The Expedition’, a scene with a couple rowing a boat whilst being keenly spied on by a lion and lioness.

Auctioneer Paul Keen says “We are delighted to present another rare Beryl Cook original in the space of just three months. Not only is this a major sized work by one of Britain’s most popular contemporary artists, but the buyer will also have the opportunity to acquire two paintings in one bid!”

The reversible painting measures 114cm x 89cm in the frame, and comes to auction on the 16th March with a guide price of £10,000 to £15,000 (Lot 100). It will be on view at the Saleroom, by appointment, throughout February and up until the auction. The same art auction will also feature a collection of 50 signed edition Beryl Cook prints which have never been framed.

Julian Spalding wrote in the book Beryl Cook, Happy Days, 1995:

“It’s not just the faces, but the whole of Beryl’s paintings that have a ‘look’. She fills them with bold, clear designs that immediately cheer you up. Her description of the tango bar is very telling. She was uncomfortable when the bar was empty, except for a frenzied couple dancing, but when many more customers arrived she was happier, stopped laughing nervously, and ‘everything settled down’… When you look closely at her compositions you can see that everything in them, every movement, mass, look and shape is balanced or echoed, one by another, until the whole picture seems to dance together.”

In November 2021, Plymouth Auction Rooms sold ‘Bride to Be’ by Beryl Cook for £9,548 (including Buyers Premium).

For more information, or to book your appointment, get in touch today: Call 01752 254740, or Email.

Western Morning News – Saturday 12th February