Jean Cooke, 
British 1927-2008 - 
Self-portrait, 2004; 
oil on canvas, 61 x 50.7 cm (ARR) 
Provenance:

Jean Cooke, 
British 1927-2008 - 

Self-portrait, 2004; 

oil on canvas, 61 x 50.7 cm (ARR) 

Provenance:
purchased by Leonard Manasseh RA from the Royal Academy, London, Summer Exhibition, 2004; 
Bellmans, Winchester, Interiors Auction including works from the Collection of Leonard Manasseh, 27th June 2018, lot 822; 
private collection, UK purchased from the above 

Exhibited:
Royal Academy, London, Summer Exhibition, 2004, no.31 (according to the label attached to the reverse and copy of the exhibition catalogue) 

Note: 
this is a very late self-portrait from her long career, that deals very movingly with the feeling of aging and possibly with the tragic experience of the artist in 2004. The artist is mournfully dressed in black, the garden and house behind her swiftly painted in blazes of orange and brown. In 2003, the artist's house in Blackheath, that had been her home since her marriage to John Bratby, had burnt down. The palette and fiery expression on the artist's face are possibly a reference to this sad event. 

This work was originally owned by the architect Leonard Manasseh OBE RA (1916-2017), who was a fellow RA and sat on the selection committee with Cooke for the 1984 RA Summer Exhibition. Cooke exhibited in the 1960s with the Leicester Galleries and her work is now in public collections including the Ruth Borchard Collection, Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery and the Tate. Cooke's work was recently exhibited to much acclaim in the exhibition 'Postwar Modern, New Art in Britain 1945-1965' at the Barbican Centre, London and will be the subject of a solo exhbition this year at the Garden Museum, 'Jean Cooke: Ungardening' from 21st June - 10th September.