Jean Cooke

Jean Esme Oregon Cooke RA (18 February 1927 – 6 August 2008) was an English painter of still lifes, landscapes, portraits and figures. She was a lecturer at the Royal Academy and regularly exhibited her works, including the summer Royal Academy exhibitions. She was commissioned to make portraits by Lincoln College and St Hilda's College, Oxford. Her works are in the National Gallery, Tate and the Royal Academy collections. In the early years of her marriage, she signed her works Jean Bratby.

Early life Jean Esme Oregon Cooke was born on 18 February 1927 in South London to Arthur Oregon Cooke and his wife. Arthur owned a shop in Blackheath, London where he sold hardware supplies and groceries. Until she was about years old, Cooke spent a lot of time in her father's shop. Her mother saw little value in education and kept her out of school until then.

Early adulthood Cooke began her art studies in 1943 at the Central School of Arts and Crafts. She studied life drawing under Bernard Meninsky, textile design, and illustration at the Central School until 1945. Cooke then studied sculpture at Goldsmiths College and pottery at Camberwell College of Arts. Interested in becoming a teacher, she enrolled in the teacher education course at Goldsmiths, which she completed in 1950. |group="nb" The couple had one daughter, Wendy, and three sons, Dayan, David, Jason. They were all artistic. The family shared their time between two houses. One was a seaside cottage at Birling Gap and the other was a large, cold Edwardian manor, which had tennis courts, a swimming pool and a largely untended garden. The couple's relationship was over by the 1970s, and they divorced in 1977.

Andrew Lambirth wrote of her in the days following her death:

Friend and playwright Nell Dunn wrote that she had "a crazy sense of humour - she sees herself as a comic character in a comic world, with the only serious thing being painting." Blast Boadicea, oil on canvas, 1960, Royal Academy of Arts, London Egon Joseph Wellesz (1885-1974), Lincoln College, University of Oxford Grassland, Government Art Collection Mad Self Portrait, Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery Sir Walter Oakeshott (1903-1987), Lincoln College, University of Oxford The greenhouse, oil on board, 1955 Union Wharf, Government Art Collection Young girl with parasol, oil on board

Exhibitions Some of her exhibitions were: 1956 - The first year her work was included in group exhibitions 1963 - Her first solo exhibition was held at the Establishment Club in London 1964 - Solo exhibition at the Leicester Galleries 1965 - Bear Lane Gallery in Oxford 1965 - Moyan Gallery, Manchester 1971 - New Grafton Gallery, London 1974 - Group exhibitions at Agnews 1976 - Dulwich Picture Gallery 1976 - "British Painting 1952 to 1977" at the Royal Academy 1979 - Tate Gallery 1980 - Norwich Gallery 1990 - Sir Hugh Casson Room for Friends at the Royal Academy of Arts 1996 - Along with Maggi Hambling, she contributed to "In The Looking Glass", an exhibition at the Usher Gallery, Lincoln, that brought together a group of contemporary self-portraits by women.