A Hug From The Art World Debuts 'Beryl Cook Takes Los Angeles' at The Maybourne Beverly Hills

A Hug From The Art World will debut Beryl Cook Takes Los Angeles at The Maybourne Beverly Hills. The exhibition is set to debut at The Maybourne Beverly Hills on February 26.

Widely popular, Cook was known as one of Britain's most famous artists. The public has always loved her paintings, which makes it rather surprising that Beryl Cook Takes Los Angeles is only the artist's second overseas exhibition.
 
Her work was all too often overlooked by the establishment and critics alike. That is, until her first stateside exhibition, Beryl Cook Takes New York, opened to critical acclaim at A Hug From The Art World in 2022, receiving a review in the New York Times.
The retrospective travels to Tinseltown, in partnership with The Maybourne Beverly Hills. Set in the beating heart of the city, The Maybourne Beverly Hills, with its distinctively chic and residential style interiors, offers intuitive five-star Maybourne service and is a haven for artistic creativity that reflects the contemporary spirit of its landmark location.
 
“Following the success of Cook's first overseas exhibition at my gallery in New York, I went on a scouting mission to find a location to bring the show out west. Whilst staying at my favorite art and design hotel in LA, The Maybourne Beverly Hills, I came up with the idea to bring Beryl's work to the 90210, where she already has a cult following as a tribute to her legacy. And much to my delight, we were able to time the exhibition perfectly with the arrival of Frieze LA,” said Adam Cohen, Founder & CEO of A Hug From The Art World.
 
Beryl Cook Takes Los Angeles brings together over forty paintings, multiple drawings, and archival materials spanning five decades. The exhibition will showcase Cook's first-ever painting, Hungover, 1962, as well as Tommy Dancing, 2007/8, her very last. Every single work in the exhibition is on loan from The   Beryl Cook Estate run by Beryl's son, John, and granddaughter, Sophie.
Cook understood how to capture the nuances of British Culture, depicting familiar scenes that lay just beneath the surface in perfect detail. From greasy spoon cafés, to ladies, dressed in traditional whites, playing bowls on the green, to the cheekiness of the nearly-nudes, she painted these humorous and joyful moments with laser sharp precision, highlighting the underbelly of Britain's quirks.
 
Arriving by Concorde, she visited the United States, travelling cross-country by train and returning on the QE2, exemplifying Cook's thirst for experience. Planes, trains, and automobiles - she soaked up America in all its glory, taking visual notes with her brilliantly discerning eye to be thrown later onto her canvases enthusiastically with whimsical skill and humorous ease.

About the Artist

Beryl Cook, OBE (10th September 1926 – 28 May 2008) was a British artist best known for her original and instantly recognizable paintings. Often comical, her works depicted people whom she encountered in everyday life, including people enjoying themselves in pubs, girls shopping or out on a hen night, drag shows, or a family picnicking by the seaside or abroad. She had no formal training and did not take up painting until her thirties. Cook admired the work of the English artist, Stanley Spencer, his influence evident in her compositions and bold bulky figures. Another great influence was Edward Burra, who painted sleazy cafes, nightclubs, gay bars, sailors, and prostitutes, although, unlike Burra, she did not paint the sinister aspects of the scenes.
Upon Beryl's death in Plymouth, the Peninsula Arts of Plymouth University mounted a major retrospective in November 2008. Two books devoted to her were published: Beryl Cook 1926- 2008 and The World of Beryl Cook. In 2010, two of her paintings were used as part of the Rude Britannia exhibition at the Tate Britain. Beryl Cook's paintings have been acquired by the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow, Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery, Plymouth Art Gallery and Durham Museum. Beryl's work has been bought by private collectors all over the world, including Jackie Collins (Collins collection was later sold at Sotheby's), Whoopi Goldberg, and Yoko Ono, to name a few. For more, visit www.Ourberylcook.com