This idyllic late 19th-century oil painting by English artist Edward William Cooke RA (1811-1880) depicts a west-country cove with two cottages, donkeys, figures, and fishing boats. Cooke was a highly renowned painter of marine scenes and landscapes who exhibited extensively at London’s Royal Academy.
From our elevated vantage point, the view extends between two quaint cottages and across the beach before sweeping around the sandy coastline. Crystalline waters lap the shore, where moored craft rest. It’s an accomplished rendering of a challenging composition. It’s enhanced by trees, which essentially ‘frame’ the right side, while a wooded track provides interest on the left.
Cooke was a keen admirer of the Dutch old masters, and the spirit of the Golden Age underpins this splendid work. In diaries, he recorded how he travelled by donkey to access elevated spots in the southwest, so it’s conceivable that he did so here. In his catalogue raisonné, it lists a work from the same year titled ‘Bay with Donkeys’.
Born in Pentonville, London, Cooke was raised in the company of accomplished artists as both his father, George Cooke (1781-1834), and his uncle, William Bernard Cooke (1778-1855), were engravers. As such, they were associated with a circle of Victorian painters who aided Cooke’s early development. These included the highly regarded marine painter Clarkson Frederick Stanfield RA RBA (1793-1867), who provided frequent advice and inspiration. Indeed, as a teenager, Cooke produced numerous drawings after Stanfield’s works.
A precocious talent, by the age of nine, he was already displaying an advanced understanding of engraving, particularly for ships, coupled with a natural, seemingly in-built skill as a draughtsman. Many of his early drawings depict pastoral landscapes after the masters, such as Nicolaes Berchem (1620-1683), Paulus Potter (1625-1654), and Karel Dujardin (1626-1678).
In an extraordinary turn of events, in 1820, his advanced abilities led to his first commission when he provided botanical illustrations for John Loudon's 'Encyclopaedia of Plants’. These were followed by drawings published in the 'Botanical Cabinet' by George Loddiges. He worked tirelessly at the nursery grounds in Hackney, producing hundreds of representations upon wood, followed by around 400 watercolours.
Despite this youthful foray into botanics, ships were Cooke’s true passion and ultimately led to him undertaking a period of study under Captain Burton of the West-Indiaman, ‘Thetis’. During his time with Burton, he filled sketchbooks with depictions of vessels in the London docks while also advancing his knowledge of oil painting.
From here, having navigated his training, his career evolved at pace, and he began to travel extensively. First to Normandy, Havre, and Rouen (1830), next to Belgium, Holland, France, Scotland, and Ireland (1832-1844) and then to Scandinavia, Spain, North Africa and Venice. Working predominently outside, from life, an astonishing array of vistas, weather conditions, and topography were met by his brush.
He first visited the Netherlands in 1837 and returned regularly over the next 23 years, with the 17th-century Dutch marine artists a particular inspiration. These travels served a dual purpose - informing his work while also enhancing his breadth of worldly knowledge. Indeed, Cooke was a great deal more than a painter, as one obiturist noted: “His scientific attainments were marked by his election as a Fellow of the Royal Society, a very rare honour for an artist, in addition to being a Member of the Geological, Linnean, and other learned societies, testifying to his refined tastes and scientific pursuits.”
His commitment to both art and science led to an array of plaudits, including his election to the academies at London, Stockholm and Venice. Over 120 of his works were shown at the Royal Academy in London.
In his later years, he settled in East Grinstead, Sussex, where he “lived the life of a quiet country gentleman in his beautifully situated house on a ridge of hills near Tunbridge Wells, on the confines of the counties of Kent and Sussex.”
He’s represented in numerous major public collections, including at the National Gallery, Tate Britain, the V&A, and the Royal Academy.
Signed/dated in the lower right and held in a later frame.
Learn more about Edward William Cooke in our directory.
Medium: Oil on canvas
Overall size: 36½” x 28½” / 91cm x 72cm
Year of creation: 1875
Provenance: With Arthur Tooth & Sons Ltd, London (1947) / Marine Pictures and Works of Art, Bonhams, London, 10 August 1989, lot 39 / Private collection, UK.
Exhibited: London, Tate, Sickert, Paintings and Drawings, May - June 1960, no. 72.
Condition: Cleaned. Revarnished. Faint stretcher mark. Areas of fine and settled craquelure, as you would expect. The paint layer is stable. Frame in good condition with minor age-related wear.
Artist’s auction maximum: £180,000 for ‘Bella Venezia (1860)’, Oil on canvas, Christie’s, Victorian & Traditionalist Pictures, London, 22 November 2006 (lot 289).
Our reference: BRV2131
