The former director of the Heaton Cooper Studio in Grasmere, John Heaton Cooper, has died after a long illness. He was 72.

John Heaton Cooper, the son of leading landscape artist William Heaton Cooper and the grandson of acclaimed artist Alfred Heaton Cooper was an insightful businessman, who firmly established the Heaton Cooper studio and transformed the fortunes of the artistic dynasty.

John’s business acumen and visionary mindset brought about the realisation of his father William’s dream of creating a world-leading artistic space devoted to mountain art.

The studio John lovingly nurtured and created, The Lake District Centre for the Interpretation of Landscape, is now home to an archive of works by the Heaton Cooper family of artists and a renowned exhibition space.

Alongside this, John worked tirelessly as an early exponent of UNESCO World Heritage Status for the Lake District, seeking recognition for the unique cultural identity of the 13 valleys of the region, which he saw become a reality in 2017.

Today the Heaton Cooper Studio is one of the Lake District’s most popular visitor attractions, regularly exhibiting world-leading mountain art, capturing the magnificence and beauty of rock and fell, stream and lake – subject matter close to John’s heart and that of his daughter Rebecca, who continues with his legacy.

John Heaton Cooper was born on December 16th, 1945, at Windermere. He was educated until the age of 7 at Grasmere School, then from 7 to 11 at Earnseat Prep School, Arnside, and from 11 to 16 at Heversham Grammar School. Both latter schools were boarding. In his youth he was a very keen climber.

His brother, the artist Julian Cooper, said: “John came to the Studio in 1976, having worked in the textile industry in Lancashire for several years as a work-study man, which means analysing and making work processes more efficient. So he applied something of that at the Studio to good effect; the business grew and he took over from Richard Hardisty, the manager, to run the Studio broadly in line with our father's vision until a few years ago.”

John was a loving and dedicated father. His daughter Rebecca now runs the studio. He also leaves his wife, Margaret, and two sons, Miles and Martin.