THIS EXHIBITION HAS NOW FINISHED. 

This exhibition charts the early life and work of the painter William Heaton Cooper, with paintings, letters and photographs that have not previously been seen. They show William’s development as an artist, when his work was very different from the rock and fell landscapes for which he became famous, including early oil paintings done in France after leaving the Royal Academy Schools, paintings and etchings from Sussex and Argentina, designs for interiors, and for film studios during his London life in the 1930’s, and early climbing paintings from the 1920’s. The exhibition ends in the early Second World War years when William married Ophelia Gordon Bell and the Studio in Grasmere was built, and when their daughter Otalia was born in 1943, the first of their four children.

The pictures tell the story of a truly great - and fascinating - life. “We know that William’s work is loved and appreciated by people who love the Lake District, and especially the mountains of the Lakes,” says Julian Cooper, “but we think they will be surprised and intrigued by these earlier works.”

The exhibition was held at Heaton Cooper Studio, Grasmere, LA22 9SX