Written by Nicholas Hadnutt
Glenn Cooke (1946–2025) was a transformational figure in the Australian arts landscape who spent over four decades documenting and preserving the visual and material history of Queensland. Born in the rural town of Blackall, Cooke’s early life in western Queensland instilled in him a lifelong fascination with regional identity and the “everyday” objects that define a community’s spirit.
Cooke’s professional tenure was most notably defined by his thirty-year career at the Queensland Art Gallery (QAGOMA), where he began as the Curator of Decorative Arts in 1981. Over his thirty-year tenure, he was instrumental in developing a world-class collection of Australian and international decorative arts. He possessed a rare, scholarly tenacity for researching “lost” histories, particularly those of women artists and regional craftspeople who had been overlooked by the traditional art historical canon. His research challenged the historical oversight of female practitioners and established a rigorous framework for studying Australian ceramics.
While his expertise was broad, Cooke’s greatest contribution arguably lay in the field of Australian ceramics. He was a pioneer in elevating “art pottery” from the perceived margins of hobbyist craft into the academic mainstream. Through landmark exhibitions such as L. J. Harvey and His School (1983), Cooke mapped the influence of the Harvey School’s technical and aesthetic principles across Queensland. His approach to ceramics was both rigorous and egalitarian.
His passion for ceramics was not merely professional; it was a deeply personal obsession. Cooke’s personal acquisitions mirrored his professional belief that all objects – whether high art or kitsch – carried cultural weight. For Cooke, a piece of pottery was never just a vessel; it was a physical manifestation of the social and economic conditions of its time. He frequently scoured second-hand stores and antique markets, amassing a significant private collection. This included everything from sophisticated studio pottery to souvenir ceramics, Story Bridge memorabilia, and his famous collection of over 1,500 souvenir tea towels now held by the State Library of Queensland.
Cooke donated more than 1400 objects to the Queensland Museum. Whilst the vast majority of these are ceramics, Cooke’s donation also includes scarves, tablecloths, serviettes, handkerchiefs and, of course, tea towels. He donated wall hangings, furniture, clothing, wrapping paper and matchboxes. All of which have culminated in an extensive collection of what Cooke called “Queenslandiana“. Together, these objects offer an intimate insight into both what Queenslanders produced for the tourist market as well as the style and aesthetic of the things Queenslanders kept at home.
Ultimately, Glenn Cooke proved that history is not just found in grand oil paintings or marble statues, but in the tea towels in our kitchens and the ceramic jugs on our mantels. He taught us that to truly understand a place, we must look at what its people made, used, and cherished.
Discover objects from the Glenn Cooke collection in Fragile and Forever: Ceramics from the Queensland Museum Collection, a free exhibition on a t Queensland Museum Kurilpa in Brisbane. Fragile and Forever: Ceramics from the Queensland Museum Collection | Queensland Museum Kurilpa
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