Eileen Cooper RA, Under the Parasol, 2025 (framed)
Pencil, gouache and watercolour on paper, 27.5 × 37cm
Eileen Cooper is a painter and printmaker with a strong commitment to figuration. Sometimes described as a magic realist, she brings an unapologetically female perspective to her subject-matter, which encompasses sexuality, motherhood, life and death. Drawing from life is at the core of Eileen’s practice, but fantastical elements - such as tigers in the studio – often find their way into her work.
We are proud to be exhibiting Eileen’s work for the first time in ‘A Day at the Seaside’ (18th July – 16th August 2025), an exhibition that she has also guest-curated. The sea has been a symbolic motif running through Eileen’s imagery and recent works explore the beach as a place to rest and play. This new, framed work on paper includes one of Eileen’s favourite animals who watches over his companion as she sleeps.
Studying first at Goldsmiths College (1971-74) and then at the Royal College of Art (1974-77) Eileen went on to teach at a wide range of art schools including St Martin’s, the Royal College of Art, City & Guilds in London and latterly at the Royal Academy of Arts. In 2000 she was elected a Royal Academician. From 2010-17 Cooper served as Keeper of the Royal Academy, becoming the first woman to be elected to this role since the RA began in 1768. She was made an Officer of the British Empire in 2016.
Originally from the Peak District, Cooper has exhibited widely in the UK and internationally. Her work is held in many public and private collections including the Tate Gallery; the Arts Council Collection; the British Museum; the Royal Collection; Victoria & Albert Museum; Dallas Museum of Art, Texas; Kunsthalle, Nuremberg; Walpole Library and Yale University.
Most recently, her work has been exhibited in solo exhibitions at Murray Edwards College, Cambridge, in the Academician’s Room at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, and in a joint exhibition at Turner’s House, London.
Pencil, gouache and watercolour on paper, 27.5 × 37cm
Eileen Cooper is a painter and printmaker with a strong commitment to figuration. Sometimes described as a magic realist, she brings an unapologetically female perspective to her subject-matter, which encompasses sexuality, motherhood, life and death. Drawing from life is at the core of Eileen’s practice, but fantastical elements - such as tigers in the studio – often find their way into her work.
We are proud to be exhibiting Eileen’s work for the first time in ‘A Day at the Seaside’ (18th July – 16th August 2025), an exhibition that she has also guest-curated. The sea has been a symbolic motif running through Eileen’s imagery and recent works explore the beach as a place to rest and play. This new, framed work on paper includes one of Eileen’s favourite animals who watches over his companion as she sleeps.
Studying first at Goldsmiths College (1971-74) and then at the Royal College of Art (1974-77) Eileen went on to teach at a wide range of art schools including St Martin’s, the Royal College of Art, City & Guilds in London and latterly at the Royal Academy of Arts. In 2000 she was elected a Royal Academician. From 2010-17 Cooper served as Keeper of the Royal Academy, becoming the first woman to be elected to this role since the RA began in 1768. She was made an Officer of the British Empire in 2016.
Originally from the Peak District, Cooper has exhibited widely in the UK and internationally. Her work is held in many public and private collections including the Tate Gallery; the Arts Council Collection; the British Museum; the Royal Collection; Victoria & Albert Museum; Dallas Museum of Art, Texas; Kunsthalle, Nuremberg; Walpole Library and Yale University.
Most recently, her work has been exhibited in solo exhibitions at Murray Edwards College, Cambridge, in the Academician’s Room at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, and in a joint exhibition at Turner’s House, London.
Pencil, gouache and watercolour on paper, 27.5 × 37cm
Eileen Cooper is a painter and printmaker with a strong commitment to figuration. Sometimes described as a magic realist, she brings an unapologetically female perspective to her subject-matter, which encompasses sexuality, motherhood, life and death. Drawing from life is at the core of Eileen’s practice, but fantastical elements - such as tigers in the studio – often find their way into her work.
We are proud to be exhibiting Eileen’s work for the first time in ‘A Day at the Seaside’ (18th July – 16th August 2025), an exhibition that she has also guest-curated. The sea has been a symbolic motif running through Eileen’s imagery and recent works explore the beach as a place to rest and play. This new, framed work on paper includes one of Eileen’s favourite animals who watches over his companion as she sleeps.
Studying first at Goldsmiths College (1971-74) and then at the Royal College of Art (1974-77) Eileen went on to teach at a wide range of art schools including St Martin’s, the Royal College of Art, City & Guilds in London and latterly at the Royal Academy of Arts. In 2000 she was elected a Royal Academician. From 2010-17 Cooper served as Keeper of the Royal Academy, becoming the first woman to be elected to this role since the RA began in 1768. She was made an Officer of the British Empire in 2016.
Originally from the Peak District, Cooper has exhibited widely in the UK and internationally. Her work is held in many public and private collections including the Tate Gallery; the Arts Council Collection; the British Museum; the Royal Collection; Victoria & Albert Museum; Dallas Museum of Art, Texas; Kunsthalle, Nuremberg; Walpole Library and Yale University.
Most recently, her work has been exhibited in solo exhibitions at Murray Edwards College, Cambridge, in the Academician’s Room at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, and in a joint exhibition at Turner’s House, London.
