William T Cooper is one of Australia’s most proficient and talented botanical and bird artists. The Gallery’s exhibition in 2021 brought together more than 100 works from private collections and from the State Library of New South Wales and the National Library of Australia, many of which had never been displayed in the region.

William T Cooper (1934–2015) was notable as a painter of birds, however he was also a masterful botanical artist, producing botanical illustrations of rainforest fruits and hundreds of drawings of plants.

The artist’s wife, botanist Wendy Cooper, was a major contributor to the work of her life-long partner. As a co-curator for the exhibition, she was able to recount details of the artist’s life, dating from the time they left their early marital home in NSW to live in Topaz on the Atherton Tablelands in far north Queensland. Wendy was Cooper’s ‘research assistant’ gathering and learning about the plants and fruits of the region as these were an essential component in Cooper’s bird paintings.

The exhibition included works in various stages of completion – from sketches through to finished paintings. As Wendy explained,

[The inclusion of sketches and working drawings] shows his drawing skill and that he drew from life, something he was passionate about, rather than working from photographs… I think it is interesting for audiences to see the artistic processes that are involved in taking a sketch to the state of a finished painting.

The Gallery’s exhibition coincided with the launch of a new book about William Cooper and his art, written by his wife Wendy and published by the National Library of Australia.

Image: William T Cooper, Victoria’s Riflebirds at Topaz (on Topaz Tamarind Synima macrophylla) (detail), 1993, synthetic polymer paint on canvas on board, Private collection, Hobart