William Edward James "Jimmy" Cook (1904–1960) was a New Zealand-born Australian artist, curator and art critic.

Early life

Cook was born in Heathcote, Christchurch, New Zealand in 1904.

Training

Cook attended the Canterbury College School of Art from 1919 to 1925 where in 1926 he was awarded the Sawtell Travelling Scholarship using which he studied briefly, touring England, Scotland and Europe, and sharing rooms with

William Dobell Sir William Dobell (24 September 189913 May 1970) was an Australian portrait and landscape artist of the 20th century. Dobell won the Archibald Prize, Australia's premier award for portrait artists on three occasions. The Dobell Prize is named ...

who remained a close friend.

Teacher

Cook returned to Christchurch in 1927 where until 1933 he taught at his alma mater the Canterbury School of Art alongside Richard Wallwork, Leonard H. Booth, Professor James Shelley, Rata Lovell-Smith, Evelyn Page and

Louise Henderson Dame Louise Etiennette Sidonie Henderson (née Sauze, 21 April 1902 – 27 June 1994) was a French-New Zealand artist and painter. Life Louise Etiennette Sidonie Sauze was born on 21 April 1902 at Boulogne-Billancourt, Boulogne sur Seine, P ...

Rita Angus Henrietta Catherine Angus (12 March 1908 – 25 January 1970), known as Rita Cook early in her career, was a New Zealand painter who, alongside Colin McCahon and Toss Woollaston, is regarded as one of the leading figures in twentieth-century Ne ...

, a fellow artist who was amongst the first students to sit the preliminary examinations held at the end of 1927 was briefly married to James's brother Alfred, also an artist. In 1931 James joined an informal association of alumni ' The Group’ with which he exhibited in 1931 and 1932. In 1933, with his wife Ruth he returned to Europe and painted in England, France and Spain. Shortly after the commencement of World War 2 Cook was recruited by the British Ministry of Information as a war artist. Brown notes that he was just one amongst a 'considerable number of talented painters leaving New Zealand in search of artistic fulfilment, in most cases never to return...'

Australia

In 1941 Cook moved to Australia to teach at the East Sydney Technical College (ESTC, later called the

National Art School The National Art School (NAS) is a tertiary level art school, located in , an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The school is an independent accredited higher education provider offering specialised study in studio arts ...

) until 1949, his employment interrupted by his WW2

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...

work for the Department of the Interior, then from March 1944, he was official war artist for the Australian Comforts Fund, in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

. Cook was appointed Director of the

Art Gallery of Western Australia The Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA) is a public art gallery that is part of the Perth Cultural Centre, in Perth. It is located near the Western Australian Museum and State Library of Western Australia and is supported and managed by the ...

in 1949, assuming the role in March 1950 and remaining until 1952. In his early retirement Cook wrote

art criticism Art criticism is the discussion or evaluation of visual art. Art critics usually criticize art in the context of aesthetics or the theory of beauty. A goal of art criticism is the pursuit of a rational basis for art appreciation but it is quest ...

for Sydney's ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' 1952-59 and continued to paint. He gave Rosalie Gascoigne oil paintings of views from Mount Stromlo under varying atmospheric conditions, studies which he had made for a larger painting intended for the

Wynne Prize The Wynne Prize is an Australian landscape painting or figure sculpture art prize. As one of Australia's longest-running art prizes, it was established in 1897 from the bequest of Richard Wynne. Now held concurrently with the Sir John Sulman Prize ...

. Cook subsequently made a return visit to England and Europe, but died of pneumonia in Florence, in 1960.

Style and reception

Smith in 1976 notes renewed interest in Cook's paintings, particularly those from the war period:

His drawings and his ability to visually articulate and describe through the use of the pencil have found few equals. It is in his paintings of military activities within the jungle environment that the full powers of Cook the painter and tonalist become evident.

McCulloch writes that he was 'a meticulous craftsman and a critic of integrity.'

Collections

* The

University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

Art Collection, Perth, WA *

, Perth, WA *

Art Gallery of South Australia The Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA), established as the National Gallery of South Australia in 1881, is located in Adelaide. It is the most significant visual arts museum in the Australian state of South Australia. It has a collection of ...

, Adelaide, SA * Bendigo Art Gallery, VIC *

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

, Melbourne, VIC *

Australian War Memorial The Australian War Memorial (AWM) is a national war memorial, war museum, museum and archive dedicated to all Australians who died as a result of war, including peacekeeping duties. The AWM is located in Campbell, Australian Capital Territory, C ...

, Canberra, ACT *

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most import ...

, Sydney, NSW, Australia * New England Regional Art Museum, Armidale, NSW

References

{{Authority control, state=collapsed New Zealand expatriates in Australia 1904 births 1960 deaths Australian artists Australian art critics Australian curators Australian war artists Deaths from pneumonia in Tuscany