The Box Plymouth announces landmark Beryl Cook exhibition for 2026

23rd June 2025

Taking place 100 years after she was born, the exhibition will re-assess and re-present Cook’s work, giving her the acclaim she deserves

The Box Plymouth has revealed details of a major exhibition by artist Beryl Cook (1926-2008). Running from Saturday 24 January to Sunday 31 May 2026, it will be the most extensive exhibition of her work to date. With the help of new research and rarely or never seen before paintings and archival material, it will reposition her career and contribution to British art.

Born Beryl Frances Lansley in Egham, Surrey in 1926, Cook was a self-taught artist who was already in her late thirties when she picked up a paint brush. She moved to Plymouth in 1968, and the city and its people became her muse for the next 40 years. Her first exhibition at the former Plymouth Arts Centre in 1975 led to a major feature in the Sunday Times and launched a career filled with vibrant, warm-hearted paintings that led to an OBE for services to the arts in 1995.

“A century after she was born a reappraisal of Beryl Cook’s work feels long overdue,” says Victoria Pomery, CEO of The Box. “Although loved by many, she wasn’t given enough serious consideration during her lifetime and we want to change that. This exhibition is a timely opportunity for us to fully explore her impact and highlight how skilled she was at documenting everyday life during a time of social change from the 1970s to the 2000s.”

Ambitious in scale as well as approach, the exhibition will feature more than 80 works, including paintings from The Box's significant art collection, loans from both private and public collections, plus rarely seen items from the personal archives of the Cook family.

“We are thrilled to be celebrating 100 years of Beryl with The Box,” says Beryl Cook’s granddaughter, Sophie Cook. “Plymouth had a special place in Beryl’s heart having spent most of her life living there, so this feels like the rightful home for such a special exhibition.”

The exhibition will also feature works by figures from history with whom Cook felt an affinity, such as influential Flemish painter Pieter Bruegel the Younger (1564-1638) and acclaimed English artist Stanley Spencer (1891-1959). Her continued impact on artists who are working today will also be explored.

"This exhibition is a chance for us to really examine Cook’s meticulous practice, process and legacy, as well as present a wider contextualisation of her career,” says Terah Walkup, art curator at The Box who has been working with curatorial consultant Ben Borthwick on its development. “It will foreground her fascination and positive portrayals of a variety of people and communities, including those who were often on the fringes of mainstream society and, through the research we’re doing, share fresh perspectives from those who knew her, were painted by her or were there when some of her most iconic works were created.”

Stay up to date with the development of the exhibition at theboxplymouth.com.