Many events have happened in the 20th Century, moon landings, evolutions in technology and the civil rights movement. We, the human race have a lot of different achievements we can be proud of. We don’t always make the right choices, we as a race have been really creative in all areas of our lives from art to music and acting.

Art has really shone in the 20th Century as it became part of our everyday lives as more people became excited by art and if they couldn’t afford originals they wanted cheaper prints. Previously art had been reserved for royalty and the prosperous, but in the 20th Century art became more readily available and more acceptable for everyday people.

Beryl Cook is an artist hailing from Plymouth, Devon in the UK who sadly died earlier on in 2008. She was originally from Surrey and spent time travelling as a showgirl before working in fashion and then planting her roots in Plymouth with her husband John Cook. Beryl’s works is well known for featuring images of real life and the people of Plymouth. She would make colourful Beryl Cook prints that focused on the things everyday people do, such as waiting to get on a bus or the bin men collecting the rubbish.

Doug Hyde was born in 1972 and he has made big waves in the art community for someone so young as the BBC named him the UK’s Best Selling Artist. He uses a simple but effective technique, his inspiration comes from the emotions he has felt in certain situations and this is part of what has made Doug Hyde prints so popular. As well as prints he is also a respected sculptor, producing sculptures that follow the same themes and often feature similar characters featured in his canvas artwork.