Betty Cooke
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Catherine Elizabeth "Betty" Cooke (born May 5, 1924) is an American designer whose career has lasted more than 73 years. She is principally known for her jewelry. She has been called "an icon within the tradition of modernist jewelry" and "a seminal figure in American Modernist studio jewelry". Her pieces have been shown nationally and internationally and are included in a number of museum collections, including the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
(MOMA) in New York. She is regarded as an important role model for other artists and craftspeople.


Biography

Cooke was born in Baltimore, Maryland on May 5, 1924. She was an enthusiastic member of the Girl Scouts, attending Camp Whippoorwill. Her lifelong friend, Dr. Miriam Shamer Daly, describes some childhood adventures with Cooke in her memoir, ''Doctor Miriam''.


Education

After taking art classes in high school, she went to the
Maryland Institute College of Art The Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) is a private art and design college in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1826 as the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, making it one of the oldest art colleges in the U ...
(MICA), where she studied from 1942 to 1946. She received a BFA in education, the only way to get an art degree there at that time. During her last year at the institute, she began to learn jewelry making as part of an apprenticeship, which started her on a career in jewelry design.


Teaching career

After graduating from MICA in 1946, Cooke taught there for 22 years. In addition to teaching jewelry design, she developed a class in "Design and Materials" for furniture design with wood, metal, fabric, and leather. One of the students who took that class was artist Bill Steinmetz. They later began dating, and eventually married.


Design career

Early in her career, Cooke designed furniture and household articles as well handbags, belts and jewelry. Her first store-front was a small house on Tyson Street in
Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...
in Baltimore, where she lived. In 1946, Cooke bought the old rowhouse for $3,000 and began to restore it. She and her partner Bill Steinmetz restored it for use as a house and shop and established a design consultancy there. In 1955, Cooke and Bill Steinmetz were married. The couple worked together as designers "Cooke and Steinmetz". Their projects included a restaurant, a bowling alley, and a church. Cooke explains her style as applying to large and small media: "I think in terms of jewelry, but jewelry is also sculpture that can be done on a large scale." They later established The Store Ltd at the
Village of Cross Keys Village of Cross Keys is a privately owned upscale area of Baltimore, Maryland. It is located off Maryland Route 25 (Falls Road) between Northern Parkway and Cold Spring Lane, and is home to luxury condos and upscale small shops. Baltimore finan ...
in
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
in 1965.


Jewelry design

Although she is widely read in the areas of art and design, Betty Cooke is largely self-trained. Her jewelry style is influenced by
Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 200 ...
and modernism. It is very simple and pure, both geometric and minimalist. Given her early aspiration to become a sculptor, it may not be surprising that she thinks of her jewelry as "sculpture in motion". Wearing her jewelry has been compared to having a miniature Calder mobile around your neck. Her pieces have been sold through museums such as the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
and the
Hirshhorn Museum The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is an art museum beside the National Mall, in Washington, D.C., the United States. The museum was initially endowed during the 1960s with the permanent art collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. It was des ...
and contemporary designers such as Keegs in
Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
. Cooke has designed jewelry for Kirk Stieff and for
Geoffrey Beene Geoffrey Beene (born Samuel Albert Bozeman Jr.; August 30, 1924 – September 28, 2004) was an American fashion designer. Beene was one of New York's most famous fashion designers, recognized for his artistic and technical skills and for creati ...
's shows in New York and
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
. Cooke's work is discussed in ''Modernist jewelry 1930–1960 : the wearable art movement'', ''Form & function : American modernist jewelry, 1940-1970'', and exhibition catalogs including ''Messengers of Modernism: American Studio Jewelry 1940-1960''. Much of Cooke's work incorporates diamonds, gold, and pearls, and she has won awards for her diamond pieces in competitions sponsored by the De Beers Consolidated Mines, now the
De Beers Group De Beers Group is an international corporation that specializes in diamond mining, diamond exploitation, diamond retail, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors. The company is active in open-pit, large-scale alluvial and c ...
. In her ''annual enumeration series'', she has created an ongoing series of numeric-inspired pieces for patrons who wished to commemorate specific events in their lives by commissioning a piece.


Selected exhibitions

* 2021, "Betty Cooke: The Circle and the Line",
Walters Art Museum The Walters Art Museum, located in Mount Vernon-Belvedere, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is a public art museum founded and opened in 1934. It holds collections established during the mid-19th century. The museum's collection was amassed ...
, Baltimore, MD * 2014, "Betty Cooke: Selections", Goya Contemporary Gallery, Baltimore, MD * 2008,
Fort Wayne Museum of Art The Fort Wayne Museum of Art (FWMoA) is an American art museum located in downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana, Allen County, United States. The Fort Wayne Museum of Art contains permanent collections and national traveling exhibitions and is accredite ...
*1997, "Messengers of Modernism", Group exhibition, Musée des arts décoratifs de Montréal, (now part of the
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA; french: Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, MBAM) is an art museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest art museum in Canada by gallery space. The museum is located on the historic Golden Square ...
,
Montreal, Canada Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pea ...
) * 1995, "Design . Jewelry . Betty Cooke" a retrospective exhibition and catalog of her jewelry from 1946 – 1994,
Maryland Institute College of Art The Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) is a private art and design college in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1826 as the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, making it one of the oldest art colleges in the U ...
(MICA) * 1951, "Young Americans", Group exhibition,
American Craft Museum The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), based in Manhattan, New York City, collects, displays, and interprets objects that document contemporary and historic innovation in craft, art, and design. In its exhibitions and educational programs, the mus ...
, New York, NY * 1951, "Textiles, Ceramics, Metalwork", Group exhibition,
Cranbrook Academy of Art The Cranbrook Educational Community is an education, research, and public museum complex in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. This National Historic Landmark was founded in the early 20th century by newspaper mogul George Gough Booth. It consists of Cr ...
,
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan Bloomfield Hills is a small city (5.04 sq. miles) in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a northern suburb of Metro Detroit and is approximately northwest of Downtown Detroit. Except a small southern border with the city of Bir ...
* 1950 "Good Design", Group exhibition,
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
, New York, NY * 1948, "Modern Jewelry Under $50" 1948–1950, Group exhibition,
Walker Art Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in the United States and, t ...
, Minneapolis, MN (also 1955, 1959)


Collections

Betty Cooke's work is found in museum collections, including: *
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
, New York, NY *
Museum of Arts and Design The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), based in Manhattan, New York City, collects, displays, and interprets objects that document contemporary and historic innovation in craft, art, and design. In its exhibitions and educational programs, the mus ...
, New York, NY (formerly
American Craft Museum The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), based in Manhattan, New York City, collects, displays, and interprets objects that document contemporary and historic innovation in craft, art, and design. In its exhibitions and educational programs, the mus ...
, New York, NY) *
Walker Art Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in the United States and, t ...
, Minneapolis, MN *
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...
, MA * Musée des arts décoratifs de Montréal, Canada (now part of the
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA; french: Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, MBAM) is an art museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest art museum in Canada by gallery space. The museum is located on the historic Golden Square ...
,
Montreal, Canada Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pea ...
)


Catalogues

* *


Awards and honors

*
American Craft Council The American Craft Council (ACC) is a national non-profit organization that champions craft based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1943 by Aileen Osborn Webb, the council hosts national craft shows and conferences, publishes a quarterly maga ...
, College of Fellows, 1996 *
Maryland Institute College of Art The Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) is a private art and design college in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1826 as the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, making it one of the oldest art colleges in the U ...
, Alumni Medal of Honor, 1987 *
De Beers De Beers Group is an international corporation that specializes in diamond mining, diamond exploitation, diamond retail, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors. The company is active in open-pit, large-scale alluvial and c ...
Diamonds Today Award 1979, 1981 * The Betty Cooke '46 Scholarship,
Maryland Institute College of Art The Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) is a private art and design college in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1826 as the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, making it one of the oldest art colleges in the U ...


References


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooke, Betty 1924 births Living people American jewellers American jewelry designers Fellows of the American Craft Council American women jewellers