Queen of the Fairies

Details

BERYL COOK (1926-2008)
Queen of the Fairies
signed 'B. Cook' (lower right), dated '1981' (on the reverse)
oil on board
23 x 24 in. (58.4 x 61 cm.)
Painted in 1981.

Provenance

with Portal Gallery, London, where purchased by Christopher Cone and Stanley J. Seeger in October 1981.
Their sale; Sotheby's, London, 30 October 2018, lot 84, where purchased by the present owner.

Literature

B. Cook, Bouncers, London, 1992, n.p., illustrated.
J. Whitlock Blundell (ed.), Beryl Cook: The Bumper Edition, London, 2000, p. 284, illustrated.
J. Wilder and S. Chapman, exhibition catalogue, Beryl Cook 1926-2008, Plymouth, University of Plymouth, 2008, pp. 68, 102, exhibition not numbered, illustrated.

Exhibited

Plymouth, University of Plymouth, Beryl Cook 1926-2008, November - December 2008, exhibition not numbered.

Brought to you by

Pippa Jacomb Director, Head of Day Sale

pjacomb@christies.com +44 (0) 20 7389 2293

Lot Essay

'My flower fairies, and there have been quite a few, are usually sturdy girls dressed in petals busily engaged in appropriate fairy business. A huge white lily growing in the garden gave me the idea for this picture. As a change the fairies would be modern, dress in leather clothes and ride bikes - something I wish I had enough nerve to do myself. In a picture of antique motorbikes I found a smart black and white sidecar, which was just the right thing for a Fairy Queen to ride in in comfort. Now they can speed off by wheel and wing to a very important engagement in the vegetable garden (not yet illustrated)' (B. Cook, Bouncers, London, 1991, n.p.).

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