Arty Farty Friday ~ Beryl Cook - Virgo Variation

Beryl Cook was born on 10 September 1926 in Egham, Surrey, England. She had Sun and Mercury in Virgo. Her art style is quite different from a trio of other Sun Virgo painters featured in a past posting: Ralston Crawford, Sol LeWitt, Carl Andre. They, in different ways, reflected the precision, neatness and clarity of typical Virgo. Beryl Cook's work, on the other hand, at first sight has more in common with an expansive Jupitarian nature. Ms Cook's work is great fun - not seriously "arty" or pretentious - just fun. Her natal chart could reveal a reason.

Video from YouTube : an accompanied tour of a UK exhibition of the late Beryl Cook's painting.



A 2008 obituary in The Telegraph has some interesting detail on the lady and her life.


A 12 noon chart is the best I can do, as no birth time is available.

Regarding my Jupiter-related comment, I was happy to find a Yod (Finger of Fate) linking her sextiled natal Sun and Pluto to Jupiter in Aquarius by two scratchy 150 degree angles. For me this, astrologically, describes her art style. Her fairly buttoned-up Virgo Sun is already loosened somewhat by the helpful sextile to erotic, sexy Pluto, then amazingly two otherwise iffy aspects draw into her nature an ebullient Jupiter in quirky Aquarius. While these elements didn't show in her outward personality, they certainly appeared in her artworks!


See how these extracts from HERE and HERE describe something of the personality shown in her natal chart.

 Self portrait

Beryl Cook found fame as a painter by accident in her late 40s, after buying her young son a box of paints. The flamboyant fun-loving characters featured in her work were largely inspired by the people of Plymouth. Beryl has lived in Plymouth ( on England's south coast) for over 25 years and remains fascinated by life in this lively naval port which is full of pubs, fishermen and sailors.

Having left school at 14, Beryl worked in a variety of jobs (splash-like chart pattern) but at that age showed very little talent for painting. ....At one time she was a showgirl in a touring production of 'The Gypsy Princess'.... She also worked in the fashion industry, which inspired her life-long interest in the way people dress and how they look. (Her Leo planets)

Beryl’s personality though is in great contrast to her paintings. She is a shy and private person, (Virgo Sun and Mercury) often depicting the flamboyant and extrovert characters she would love to be (Venus and Neptune conjunct in Leo). She prefers to observe a crowd of people, her acute eye missing nothing. She records in minute detail scenes of everyday life and has an almost photographic memory (all Virgo!).

Beryl Cook died aged 81 in May 2008.