‘Radical and joyous’: Beryl Cook show aims to prove she was a serious artist

Major retrospective in Plymouth, her adopted city, presents her as a skilful chronicler of social transformation

In her lifetime, Beryl Cook’s colourful, vibrant paintings tended to be dismissed by most critics as mere kitsch or whimsy.

A major retrospective of Cook’s work opening in her adopted city of Plymouth next weekend makes the case that she was a serious, significant artist who skilfully chronicled a tumultuous period of social transformation.