Ebenezer Wake Cook (28 December 1843 – 1926), generally referred to as E. Wake Cook, was a

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

. Cook was born at

Maldon, Essex Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the River Blackwater, Essex, Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea ...

, England and came to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

in 1852. At 17 years of age Cook became an assistant to

Nicholas Chevalier Nicholas Chevalier (9 May 1828 – 15 March 1902) was a Russian-born artist who worked in Australia and New Zealand. Early life Chevalier was born in St Petersburg, Russia, the son of Louis Chevalier, who came from Vaud, Switzerland, and was o ...

, who instructed him in painting, wood-engraving and lithography. During 1867 and 1868 Chevalier was commissioned to produce a number of images of New Zealand and

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

and Victoria, Australia, by the Duke of Edinburgh. A watercolour of Isle of the Dead in Tasmania was painted by Cook in about 1868. He was one of the original members of the Victorian Academy of Arts in 1870. In 1872 Cook studied under

Eugene von Guerard Johann Joseph Eugene von GuérardHis first name is variously spelled "Eugen", "Eugene", "Eugène", one source mentions "Jean" (instead of "Johann"); his surname is spelled "Guerard" or "Guérard". The most frequent combination is that used by t ...

at the

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and list of most visited art museums in the world, most visited ar ...

. In that year he won the medal for the best water-colour exhibited at the exhibition of the New South Wales Academy of Art. He was an associate of

Tom Roberts Thomas William Roberts (8 March 185614 September 1931) was an English-born Australian artist and a key member of the Heidelberg School art movement, also known as Australian impressionism. After studying in Melbourne, he travelled to Europe ...

Rupert Bunny Rupert Charles Wulsten Bunny (29 September 186425 May 1947) was an Australian painter. Born and raised in Melbourne, Victoria, he achieved success and critical acclaim as an expatriate in '' fin-de-siècle'' Paris. He gained an honourable mentio ...

and

Bertram Mackennal Sir Edgar Bertram Mackennal (12 June 186310 October 1931), usually known as Bertram Mackennal, was an Australian sculptor and medallist, most famous for designing the coinage and stamps bearing the likeness of George V. He signed his work "BM". ...

, and for a time worked for the Adelaide Photographic Company. In 1873 Cook went to London, and from 1875 to 1926 was a constant exhibitor at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purp ...

. In 1904 he published a pamphlet, '' Anarchism in Art and Chaos in Criticism'', which was followed in 1924 by ''Retrogression in Art and the Suicide of the Royal Academy'', an attack on all un-academic painters from Manet onwards. Cook for a time was president of the Langham Sketch Club, and an original member and honorary secretary of the

Royal British Colonial Society of Artists The Royal British Colonial Society of Artists (RBC) was founded in 1887 as the Royal Anglo Australian Society of Artists and received its royal charter under its later name in 1907. Its members were artists from Britain (notably members of the New ...

. Cook died early in 1926. His work was popular with some collectors and dealers, but it was often regarded as pretty when it was meant to be beautiful. Cook is represented in the national galleries at Sydney,

and

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

References

Sources

External links

Sale prices of works by Ebenezer Wake Cook

Watercolour. Isle of the Dead, Tasmania
(c. 1868) painted by Ebenezer Wake Cook 1843 births 1926 deaths 19th-century English painters English male painters 20th-century English painters English watercolourists British emigrants to colonial Australia Australian painters Australian art critics 19th-century English male artists 20th-century English male artists {{England-painter-stub