Beauty in the Beast

A prolific artist illuminates the beauty of our planet

As introduced in Tyree: Artist of the South Pacific, Ralph Burke Tyree helped popularize Polynesian art in the twentieth century. He enjoyed a professional career in California and the Pacific Rim, painting idyllic portraits and scenes in oils on board and, later, on fine black velvet.

In 1970, when the first Earth Day sparked the environmental movement of the 1970s, and DDT threatened the bald eagle and other birds of prey with extinction, endangered animals entered his repertoire. For the next decade, he chose these majestic creatures to be his muses, bringing awareness to their declining numbers.

Published to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, Beauty in the Beast explores the works of the last ten years of Tyree’s life, when animals became his focus. Endangered species like the pangolin, cotton-top tamarin, ornate Hawk-eagle, dwarf lemur, red panda, slow loris, and leopard are brought to live by Tyree’s skilled hand.

In full color, Beauty in the Beast is a tribute to Ralph Burke Tyree’s artistic brilliance and to the beauty and importance of our planet’s plants and animals.

C.J. Cook is an award-winning author and historian with a long interest in the history of the South Pacific. His first book, Tyree: Artist of the South Pacific (2017), was an incredible success, winning two Gold Awards for Best Cover and Best Biography from the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) in April 2018. His second book, Leeteg: Babes, Bars, Beaches, and Black Velvet Art, won a Gold Medal for Best Biography from the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) in April 2022. In 2023, Cook released a sequel to his first biography, Beauty in the Beast: Flora, Fauna, and Endangered Species of Artist Ralph Burke Tyree. This work expanded on Ralph Burke Tyree's themes and legacy. Continuing his exploration of South Pacific artists' lives and works, in January 2025, Cook will release his fourth book, Edithe Beutler: Beautifying Hawaii with Color (2025). Beutler was the foremost colorist in Hawaii, painting black and white prints before color photography.

Cook has been a lifelong manuscript collector interested in art and the South Pacific. He is a board member of The Manuscript Society, dedicated to preserving manuscripts and historical documents. 

He also collects art from the South Pacific, including Ralph Burke Tyree, Edgar Leeteg, Edithe Beutler, Madge Tennent, Cece Rodriguez, Robert Lee Eskridge, and William Bloom. Some of these paintings appear in his books.

He has and continues to explore the South Pacific, including Guam, Pohnpei, Taiwan, Truk, Palau, Bali, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, its Great Barrier Reef, Tahiti and its surrounding islands, and the Hawaiian Islands. He visits the last two island paradises multiple times a year.