1936                Born, Melbourne
1962                Married Sally Bovington

1953-55           Teachers’ Secondary Training Certificate (Art & Craft), Caulfield
                        Technical College, RMIT, University of Melbourne
1959-60           Italian Government Scholarship
1960-62           Bath Academy of Art, Corsham

1962-73           Lecturer in Liberal Studies, including the history of art, photography and film, Maidstone Art School, Kent
1968                Lecturer in Photography, Bath Academy of Art, Corsham
1970                Lecturer in Painting, Prahran Technical College, Melbourne
1973-74           Artist in Residence in Berlin at the invitation of the DAAD Program
1975-77           Artist in Residence, University of Melbourne

1957                Joint Winner of the Aubrey Gibson Prize, Melbourne
1971                Georges Invitation Prize, Melbourne
1980                Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
1981                Sulman Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

1967                William Delafield Cook: English Paintings 1966-67,  Leveson Street Gallery, Melbourne
1970                Bill Delafield Cook : Real Art, Powell Street Gallery, Melbourne
1971                William Delafield Cook: Redfern Gallery, London,
1972                William Delafield Cook: Ten Drawings, Powell Street Gallery, Melb
1973, 75, 79    William Delafield Cook: New Paintings &Drawings Redfern Gallery, London,
1974                William Delafield Cook, Berliner Kunstlerprogramm (DAAD), Akademie der Kunste, Berlin, June-July
1976                William Delafield Cook: Survey Exhibition, University of Melbourne
                        Gallery, plus tour to Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney,
                        Newcastle Region Art Gallery, Art Gallery of South Australia
1987                William Delafield Cook: Mid-career Survey, AGNSW, Sydney
                        William Delafield Cook: Selected Works:1958-1987, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne,
1998                William Delafield Cook: Paintings, Rex Irwin Art Dealer, Sydney,
                        William Delafield Cook: Drawings, Sherman Galleries, Sydney
                        William Delafield Cook: Paintings & Drawings, Australian Galleries, Melbourne,
2004, 2008      William Delafield Cook:  Paintings, Rex Irwin Art Dealer
2006                William Delafield Cook and Jonathan Delafield Cook, Rex Irwin Art Dealer
2011                William Delafield Cook:  Survey Exhibition.  Gippsland Regional
                        Art Gallery, and Tarrawarra Museum of Art, Victoria

1956-58           Victorian Artists Society, Melbourne
                        Contemporary Art Society, Melbourne
1961                Young Contemporaries, Royal British Society of Artists, London
                        Moulton Gallery, London
1962                Artists of Promise, Nottingham
                        New Arts Centre, London
1963                Australian Painting and Sculpture in Europe Today,  New Metropole Arts
                        Centre, Folkestone and Frankfurt
1965                New Arts Centre, London
1967                Hungry Horse Gallery, Sydney
1970                Gardens of Delight, Powell Street Gallery, Melbourne
1971                Georges Invitation Prize, Melbourne
1972                Relativerend Realisme, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Holland, and
                        Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels
1973                Perth International Drawing Prize, Art Gallery of Western Australia
                        Recent Australian Art, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
                        Dusseldorf Art Fair, Maltzhan Gallery
                        Travelodge Art Prize, Sydney
                        30 International Artists, DAAD, Bonn
1974                Freie Berliner Kunsteaustellung (Free Berlin), Berlin
                        The Supernatural Image, Geelong Art Gallery and Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, Victoria
1975                Contemporary Art Society Art Fair, Mall Galleries, Melbourne
                        Realismus und realitat (Realism and Reality) , Kunsthalle, Darmstadt
1976                Australian Realist Painters, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
1977                Illusion and Reality, Australian National Gallery Canberra (National Gallery of Australia)  
                        Toured all Australian State Galleries.
                        Winter Exhibition, Joseph Brown Gallery,  Melbourne
1977, 78, 81, 83, 85, 86, 88 Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales,
1978                Some Recent Acquisitions, Australian National Gallery, Canberra
                        Autumn Exhibition, Joseph Brown Gallery,  Melbourne
1980                Spring Exhibition, Joseph Brown Gallery,  Melbourne
                        Realist Art: Selected Works from the Permanent and Michell Endowment Collections,
                        Banyule Gallery, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
1981                Sulman Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
                        Aspects of New Realism:1981 – Travelling Art Exhibition, NGV, Melb
                        Spring Exhibition, Joseph Brown Gallery, Melbourne
1982                Patrick White’s Choice, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
1983                Recent Australian Painting – A Survey:1970-1983, AGSA, Adelaide
                        A Melbourne Mood: Cool Contemporary Art, Australian National Gallery, Melville Hall,
                        Australian National University, Canberra
                        Backlash: The Australian Drawing Revival 1976 – 1986,  NGV
1987                Field of Figuration, NGV, Melbourne
                        The Jack Manton Prize 1987: Recent Works by Fourteen Australian Artists, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
                        Australian Landscape Painting, Heide Park and Art Gallery, Melbourne (Museum of Modern Art, Heide)
1987-1988       The ANZ Bicentennial Art Commissions, Toured nationally
1989                The Jack Manton Exhibition 1989: Recent Works by Twelve Australian Artists, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
                        Important Works on Paper, Rex Irwin Art Dealer, Sydney
1995                Dobell Drawing Prize, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
1997                Important Works on Paper, Rex Irwin Art Dealer, Sydney
                        The Real Thing, The Museum of Modern Art at Heide, Melbourne
2001                10 Paintings, Rex Irwin Art Dealer
2003                Trees, Rex Irwin Art Dealer

Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
Newcastle Region Art Gallery, New South Wales
Bendigo Art Gallery, Victoria
Rockhampton City Art Gallery, Queensland
University of Melbourne Art Collection, Melbourne
Monash University Collection, Melbourne
Deakin University Collection, Melbourne
Artbank, Sydney
Joseph Brown Collection, Melbourne
Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Zealand
Wesfarmers Collection, Perth
Pacific Road, Sydney
ANZ Bank Collection, Sydney
Commonwealth Bank Collection, Melbourne
Commercial Union Insurance, Melbourne
State Bank of Victoria Collection, Melbourne
National Australia Bank Collection
Sussan Corporation Collection, Melbourne
BHP Collection, Melbourne
Coles-Myer Collection, Melbourne
ACTU Collection, Melbourne
Heracles Nominees Collection, Melbourne
TAN Airlines, Miami
Numerous private and corporate collections in Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States and Europe.