Monday, April 27, 2015

MORE of the Art of Beryl Cook

MORE of the Art of Beryl Cook


                                                                           

The distinctive art of Beryl Cook is as instantly recognizable as my relatives at a family reunion. In this society where thinness is praised next to godliness, Beryl Cook's paintings celebrate the life of the happy, socially active, healthy, chubby woman, having the time of her life.

She is not a unhealthy, ugly mass of jingly flesh. Oh, no! She's out dancing, bowling, having concerts in the park, and so on. She is comfortable in fancy and tiny outfits, and is pursued as a desirous companion.  






Of course, as fashionably comfortable  as the Beryl Cook woman is in disco outfits and fancy clothes, she is equally comfortable cavorting in her birthday suit.


Beryl Cook was a publicly shy woman, and for as popular as her artwork was in her lifetime, she was not recognized in public. She used this advantage to sit in coffee shops and parks and dance clubs and bowling alleys to sketch and make notes for her paintings.







At the age of 81, Britain's unofficial favorite painter passed away on May 28, 2008, leaving a giant hole in the world of humorous art, as only Beryl could do, almost thumbing her nose at the elitism "you can't be too rich or too thin" mindset, who dismissed Beryl's work. But the public loves her work, finding it amusing, humorous, and "freeing" the chubby public from the notion that fat is ugly.

Meanness  is ugly.  Cruelty is ugly. Harshness is ugly.  A society that starves children and abuses women and children and men who are different is ugly.  An ample bosom and butt are not.

I remember distinctly a physical examination with my family doctor before an overseas trip, when I expressed a weight issue with my very wise family doctor.

He  said, "Chihuahuas have chihuahuas. And  Great Danes have Great Danes.  And no matter what you do, you are never going to be a chihuahua. I just want you to be healthy."

So, to the other Great Danes out there, enjoy the work of Beryl Cook, where she shows us dynamic, healthy, fun-loving full-size women.




All information for this article came from Wikipedia and the following link:
Link:
http://www.berylcookprints.co.uk/addToCart.asp?id=39

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