Eileen Cooper

Eileen Cooper
Name	Eileen Cooper
Birth date	1953
Birth place	Lancaster, Lancashire
Nationality	British
Known for	Painting, printmaking, drawing
Training	Central Saint Martins, Royal College of Art
Awards	OBE, Royal Academician

Eileen Cooper is a British painter, printmaker and draughtswoman noted for figurative work that blends myth, theatre and everyday life. She established a reputation through solo exhibitions, teaching posts and roles within institutions such as the Royal Academy of Arts and has been recognised with honours including an Order of the British Empire.

Early life and education

Born in Lancaster, Lancashire, she trained at Central Saint Martins and completed postgraduate studies at the Royal College of Art, where contemporaries included students who would later work across painting and printmaking. Her development drew on precedents from Francis Bacon, Henry Moore, Leon Kossoff, and the legacy of British art schools such as Slade School of Fine Art and Goldsmiths, University of London.

Artistic career

Cooper emerged in the 1970s and 1980s British art scene alongside artists associated with New British Sculpture and figurative movements including Windrush generation—alongside contemporaries like Anish Kapoor, Sarah Lucas, Cornelia Parker, Jeff Koons (internationally), and painters such as Lucian Freud, David Hockney, Howard Hodgkin, Patrick Caulfield, John Hoyland, and Norman Ackroyd. She held solo shows at institutions including the Royal College of Art galleries, Tate Britain, Serpentine Gallery, Whitechapel Gallery, Victoria and Albert Museum, and regional venues such as Farnham Maltings and Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Cooper served as Keeper of the Royal Academy of Arts and was a prominent figure in exhibitions that toured through venues such as the British Council spaces and international fairs in Venice Biennale, Frieze Art Fair, Documenta, and galleries in New York City, Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, and São Paulo.

Style and themes

Her work often features theatrical compositions, dancers, animals, and masked figures drawing on iconography from Italian Renaissance allegory, Commedia dell'arte, Greek mythology, and the visual traditions of Baroque painting and Dutch Golden Age painting. Critical comparisons have linked her draughtsmanship to the sensibilities of Edgar Degas, Gustav Klimt, Pierre Bonnard, Egon Schiele, Paula Rego, and William Blake. Themes include identity, performance, solitude and domestic scenarios, explored through print processes related to etching, lithography, and monotype, and with echoes of techniques used by Albrecht Dürer, Rembrandt van Rijn, and Francisco Goya.

Teaching and academic roles

Cooper taught at institutions including Royal College of Art, Camberwell College of Arts, Central Saint Martins, and the Ruskin School of Art. She held visiting professorships and lecture appointments at universities such as University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Goldsmiths, University of London, University of the Arts London, Chelsea College of Arts, and international academies in Florence, Rome, New York University, and Pratt Institute. Her pedagogical influence extended through workshops at the British School at Rome, the Royal Drawing School, and residencies supported by the Arts Council England and the Henry Moore Foundation.

Exhibitions and collections

Major solo and group exhibitions placed her work in collections including the Tate Collection, Victoria and Albert Museum, British Council Collection, Royal Academy, Government Art Collection, National Museum of Wales, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Manchester Art Gallery, Tate St Ives, National Portrait Gallery, London, Ulster Museum, Fitzwilliam Museum, Ashmolean Museum, Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, and international institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Centre Pompidou, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Museo Tamayo, National Gallery of Victoria, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Hamburger Bahnhof, Musée d'Orsay, and Museum Ludwig.

Awards and honours

Cooper was elected a Royal Academician at the Royal Academy of Arts and appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to art. She received awards, grants and fellowships from bodies such as the Arts Council England, the British Council, the Henry Moore Foundation, the Leverhulme Trust, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, and local authority arts initiatives. She was included in major survey publications and award lists alongside recipients of the Turner Prize, the Jerwood Prize, the Imperial War Museum acquisition grants, and listings in directories such as the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

Personal life

Cooper's life and work have been rooted in London and northern England, with connections to arts communities across Greater London, Lancashire, and the Lake District. She has collaborated with fellow artists, curators and writers associated with institutions like the British Museum, Courtauld Institute of Art, Hayward Gallery, Institute of Contemporary Arts, National Arts Club, and has participated in cultural festivals such as the Hay Festival, Cheltenham Music Festival, and regional biennials.

Category:British painters Category:Royal Academicians Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire