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house, is in the same collection. The; Sheepshanks Gallery contains six of his works, and purchasers, now eagerly give; large prices for his paintings. His works were purely original, his manner entirely, his own. He depicted with great truth, and power the freshness and variety o£ English landscape. His reputation as one of our first painters is now firmly estab- lished, and is not likely to decrease. He made many fine drawings in water-colour, one of which, of a large size, ' Stonehenge, was exhibited in 1836.

COOK, Henry, portrait painter. Prac- tised about 1640, and appears to have found employment in the City, but at low prices. The Ironmongers' Company possess some portraits by him, for which the records of the company show that, disputing his charge of 57. each, they paid him the re- duced sum of SI. 5s. ; but some of these are supposed to be copies.

COOK, Henry, history t painter. Son of the above. Born 1642. Travelled in Italy to study the works of the great history painters, and was for a time the pupil of Salvator Rosa. On his return he was em- loyed to paint the altar-piece for the new College Chapel at Oxford, but met with little encouragement, and lived for several years in want and obscurity. He was at last obliged to fly from England for the murder of a man who courted his mistress, whom he afterwards married. When this affair was forgotten he came back, and his talents gained him notice. He was com- missioned by William III. to repair the cartoons. He finished the equestrian por- trait of Charles II. in the hall at Chelsea Hospital. As a decorative artist, he painted the staircase at Ranelagh House and at Lord Carlisle's in Soho Square. He also tried portrait painting, but could not put up with the caprice of his sitters. His collection of pictures and drawings was sold March 26, 1700. He died Nov. 18 in that year, and was buried in St. Giles's Church. Faithorne engraved after him.

COOK, Robert, portrait ■painter. He also filled the office of Clarencieux in Henry VII. 's reign. He painted the por- trait of that King, and of Henry VIIL, Queen Catherine, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, Sir Anthony Wingfield, Sir Robert Wingfield and his lady, with their seven or eight sons. This latter painting was, when Walpole wrote, at Boughton. '

COOK, Richard, R. A., history painter. Was born in London 1784, and entered the schools of the Royal Academy in 1800. In 1832 he received the Society of Arts' gold medal. He first appears as an exhibitor at the Academy in 1808, and in that and the succeeding years, up to 1811, sent land- scapes—chiefly compositions: but he also, in 1806, sent two Historical paintings to

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the British Institution — 'The Agony of Christ' and 'Hector reproving Paris/ in which latter the Helen introduced was treated with great beauty. In 1812 and the following year his works exhibited at the Academy were portraits; in 1814 he sent 'Acis and Galatea;' in 1816, 'The Lady of the Lake,' and was in that year elected an associate of the Academy. His remaining works were classic — ' Ceres dis- consolate for the loss of Proserpine ; ' and, in 1819, after two years' absence from the walls of the Academy, another 'Lady of the Lake ; ' and though he was elected a full member of the Academy in 1822, he was not again an exhibitor. He possessed an independence, and for many years before his death had relinquished the practice of his profession. He died in Great Cumber- land Place, Hyde Park, March 11, 1857. There is by him an illustrated edition of the ' Lady of the Lake ' and of ' Gertrude of Wyoming.'

COOK, Thomas, line engraver. He was a pupil of Ravenet, of great merit, and rose to the very top of his profession. In 1771 he received a premium from the So- ciety of Arts. He was employed by Boydell, and executed many works which are much esteemed, both historical and architectural, engraving the figure and landscape. He spent many years of his life in repeating tne works of Hogarth, the same size as the originals, which were published under the title of 'Hogarth Restored.' He after- wards reduced these engravings, comprising 160 plates, for Nichols and Stevens's edition of ' Hogarth's Works,' in two volumes 4to. In the 'Gentleman's Magazine' for May 1818 he is stated to have died lately, aged 74.

COOK, J., engraver. Practised in the latter part of the 18th century. He en- graved some of the illustrations for the editions of Bell's ' Shakespeare,' published in 1774 and 1787. There are also many

Eortraits by him. He was chiefly employed y the booksellers.

COOK, Samuel, water-colour painter. Was born 1806, at Camelford, where his mother kept a bakehouse. He was taught at the village school, and at the age of 9 was employed in a woollen factory. He was the cause of some annoyance in the factory from his propensity for scribbling, which he afterwards developed into sign painting and scene painting for travelling peep-shows. He then went to Plymouth! where he engaged himself to a painter ana glazier, and afterwards commenced busi- ness on his own account, devoting all the time he could spare to sketching on the coast and the quays. Gaining notice in the neighbourhood, though of a timid nature, ne was encouraged to submit his drawings to the Committee of the New

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