Gerald Cooper

 (1898-1971)

Gerald Cooper was born in London in 1898, he had a successful career as a painter, sculptor and teacher whose works included landscapes, horses, and children’s portraits until, in his later career, he totally changed direction to concentrate on floral still life subjects in the manner of the old Dutch Masters.

His work is in the Dutch tradition of still life painting and the subjects are synonymous with the best of the early still life artists. Flowers, fruit, jugs, bowls and glass vases are visually effective tools for example, but he also used marble ledges and stone plinths sometimes draped, adding another dimension to these cleverly conceived images.

Cooper exhibited 9 pictures at the Royal Academy and 5 at The New English Art Club as well as exhibiting at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool.
He was keenly interested in art education and was appointed Principal of Wimbledon School of Art in 1930 (now Wimbledon College of Art) a role he filled for the following 34 years until his retirement in 1964. He lived in Chelsea from 1928, Wimbledon from 1933, and East Horsley, Surrey from 1940.