Elizabeth Cope was born in Co. Kildare Ireland and studied at the National College of Art & Design Dublin, Sir John Cass School of Art and then Chelsea School of Art London in the 1970’s before living in Madrid and Paris. She is an Irish Postwar & Contemporary painter, and has exhibited in galleries and museums all over the world for the past 40 years and is found in many important public and private collections.
Cope's first Scottish solo exhibition-'Seduced by the Smell of Paint'- was with Compass Gallery in 2018. Since then, she has also been apart of our mixed shows like The Christmas Show 2020.
Cope is both a draughtsman and a painter; colour, spontaneity, energy and creativity characterise her work. Confident in her craftsmanship but also self critical she vigorously edits; if the paintings don’t work for her she snips out the best and strongest bits and collages them onto a fresh base, thus creating intriguing jigsaws of images. The ambition in her work can be represented by the sheer scale of some of her paintings, nailed onto the walls of open barns, amongst the hay bales.
By her own admission she is of the ‘happy school of painting’. She looks for the positive and hope in the places and situations she experiences. Always determined to travel, her subject matter is varied and drawn from her worldly journeys and experiences; from her visits to Somalia to the beaches of Brazil, Guatemala, the Mediterranean, Cuba and Mexico. However her return to her cultural homeland in rural Ireland and studio life grounds her and motivates her to paint.
Highly regarded internationally, documenting the war in Somalia, she was Ireland’s first war artist and exhibited together with Scottish war artist Peter Howson, although her work and approach is completely different. Her paintings currently hang alongside notable artists, Francis Bacon and William Crozier as a specially selected artist in ‘The Naked Truth, the Nude in Irish Art’, Cork.
Inspired by the principles and tenets of the late 19th Century and early 20th Century artists, she is influenced particularly by the Fauvist and Post Impressionists Edgar Degas, Vincent Van Gogh, Andre Derain, Dufy and Matisse. Notable British artists Roger Hilton, Vanessa Bell, Roger Fry and Alfred Wallis are much admired by her and have impacted on her most recent work.
International solo shows include: University of Toronto, Canada, Bologna, Ontario, Dublin, London, New York, Sao Paulo and Switzerland.
Acquisitions by public and corporate collections include: the Contemporary Irish Art Society; Dublin City University; National Self-Portrait Collection; University of Limerick; Allied Investment Bank; and Bank of Ireland.
Recent selected group shows include: The Christmas Show 2020, Compass Gallery, Glasgow; the Royal Academy of Arts, Yorkshire (2017); RHA Annual Exhibition in Dublin (2016); and the RA Summer Show, London (2016).
Elizabeth Cope
-
Elizabeth Cope
Donkeys, Geese, Hens, Shankill 2005-6
-
Elizabeth Cope
Stuffed Dresser, 2019
-
Elizabeth Cope
Geese in Snow, Shankill 1999
-
Elizabeth Cope
Rhino, 1999
-
Elizabeth Cope
Piece of Cod on paper, Edvard Munch Studio, Ekely, 2010
-
Elizabeth Cope
Courtown Plant Pots, Shankill, 1992
-
Elizabeth Cope
Flyover from River Lea, London city Island 2
-
Elizabeth Cope
Gasometer, Oval & Kennington, London
-
Elizabeth Cope
Knocker White on Thames
-
Elizabeth Cope
Flyover from River Lea, London City Island
Sold
-
Elizabeth Cope
Swans on River Lea, London City Island, 2020
-
Elizabeth Cope
Seagulls, Swans and Cranes, River Lea from London City Island
-
Elizabeth Cope
Cream Jug on Pink & Green, 1985
-
Elizabeth Cope
View of Windfarm in Arklow from Ardamine, with rough sea
-
Elizabeth Cope
Goat in Rainstown on Orange Background, 1980-81
-
Elizabeth Cope
Iron, white spirits, Staffordshire dog, Cow & Calf, Portuguese pottery with Begonia, 2010
-
Elizabeth Cope
Polar Bear, Dublin Zoo, 1999 (turning right)
-
Elizabeth Cope
Polar Bear, Dublin Zoo, 1999 (turning left)
-
Elizabeth Cope
Girls in Laundry
-
Elizabeth Cope
Ice Skates, 2003
-
Elizabeth Cope
Ride a cock horse, owl & lobster, 2017
-
Elizabeth Cope
Boats in harbour with dog, Killala 2010
-
Elizabeth Cope
Smiling self-portrait wearing fake fur hat with mirror and painting of goat in Desert in Tunisia, 2010
-
Elizabeth Cope
Staffordshire Cow & Calf with red teapot & rabbit, 2011
-
Elizabeth Cope
Staffordshire Lion with half grapefruit and Mexican butterfly, 2015
-
Elizabeth Cope
Sweetwater Bay Crete, 2015
-
Elizabeth Cope
Gorilla, Dublin Zoo, 1999
-
Elizabeth Cope
Oil tankers, Persian Gulf from Queshm Island 2018-19
-
Elizabeth Cope
Sardines
-
Elizabeth Cope
Geoffrey outside hall door with cats, 2020
-
Elizabeth Cope
Lobster, Birds, Staffordshire Lions, Geraniums, back of Bush Radio, 2010
-
Elizabeth Cope
Reclining Nude by fire in drawing room, 2005
-
Elizabeth Cope
Sabu and cats outside Shankill, 1991
-
Elizabeth Cope
Sarah Buchner, 2018
-
Elizabeth Cope
(left) Sybil with London Underground Map (in magenta pink); (right) 'Venus has left the building' near door with view of River Lea 2020
-
Elizabeth Cope
Autumn Garden, Walled Garden, Shankill
-
Elizabeth Cope
Susan, Head of Tessa, Geoffrey, Salmon in Ardamine (by sea, Co. Wexford) 2019
-
Elizabeth Cope
Visiting Sybil in Bulgaria (cattle through window), 2018
-
Elizabeth Cope
Red Boats, Ardamine, 2011
-
Elizabeth Cope
Camel
-
Elizabeth Cope
Cow & Calf
-
Elizabeth Cope
Donkey
-
Elizabeth Cope
Elephants, Dublin Zoo
-
Elizabeth Cope
Frogs
-
Elizabeth Cope
Giraffe
-
Elizabeth Cope
Pygmy Hippo
-
Elizabeth Cope
Reindeer Rangifer Tarandus
-
Elizabeth Cope
Tortoise
-
Elizabeth Cope
Toucans (Hand-Coloured)