File:Robert Cocke Once Upon a Time 2008.jpg

Painting by Robert D. Cocke, Once Upon a Time (oil on canvas, 26" x 26", 2008). The image illustrates a mid-career body of work by Robert D. Cocke in the 1990s and 2000s after he turned to serene landscapes and panoramic vistas—largely desert scenes—combining classical painting technique and surreal features. Critics described them as hyperreal, hallucinatory and otherworldly, noting eerie plant life and geological features, curious clouds formations, unnatural patterns and palettes that edged the work toward surrealism. This work was publicly exhibited in prominent exhibitions, discussed in major art journals and daily press publications and acquired by major museums.

Artist Robert D. Cocke. Copyright held by the artist.

Robert D. Cocke

Entire artwork

Yes

The image serves an informational and educational purpose as the primary means of illustrating a key mid-career body of work by Robert D. Cocke in the 1990s and 2000s after he turned away from figurative work and social commentary: his serene, unpopulated landscapes and panoramic vistas combining classical painting technique and surreal features. These invented scenes painted from memory were influenced by the Hudson River School and recalled the precision and clarity of classical Dutch and Flemish landscape painters as well as the Edenic quality of 19th-century Luminism. They explored the genre's evocative possibilities in a pure manner, demonstrating a dual desire to mirror nature and depart from it in enigmatic ways. Because the article is about an artist and his work, the omission of the image would significantly limit a reader's understanding and ability to understand this key stage and body of work, which brought Cocke ongoing, new recognition through survey exhibitions and coverage by major critics and publications. Cocke's work of this type and this series is discussed in the article and by critics cited in the article.

There is no free equivalent of this or any other of this series by Robert D. Cocke, so the image cannot be replaced by a free image.

The image will not affect the value of the original work or limit the copyright holder's rights or ability to distribute the original due to its low resolution and the general workings of the art market, which values the actual work of art. Because of the low resolution, illegal copies could not be made.