DELAFIELD COOK Sr., William (1861-1931)

"Pastoral, Heidelberg" (c.1900)
watercolour & gouache
cm
signed lower left
*private collection, Sydney
 
William Delafield Cook Sr. is a forgotten Australian Impressionist, & member of the Heidelberg School of Painters. Born in Melbourne in 1861 William Delafield Cook was a respected Australian painter of the Heidelberg School, studying under John Ford Patterson and was a member of the Victorian Artists Society, where he exhibited regularly. Well known in his time and based primarily in Victoria, he was renowned for his Impressionist landscapes of pastoral scenes across the state, in both oil and watercolour. His work is represented in several Major Galleries and Institutions including the Western Australian Art Gallery. He died suddenly in Balaclava, Victoria in 1931. His grandson was leading Australian Contemporary painter, William Delafield Cook (1936-2015).