Mary Potter

1900 - 1981

Known for her restrained and subtle palette with experimental media, and her searching examination of local and domestic subject matter, Mary Potter has been one of the longest-appreciated and heralded women artists of mid-century England. Born in Kent, Potter attended the Beckenham School of Art and the Slade School of Fine Art under Henry Tonks. She was a star student and became a member of the Seven and Five Society and exhibited with the New English Art Club and The London Group, and held several solo exhibitions, including one at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, where Kenneth Clark, the director, was a particular supporter of her work, and a series of shows at The New Art Centre. She was married to the writer Stephen Potter from 1927-1955, having two children. In 1951, the Potters moved to The Red House on the edge of Aldeburgh, Suffolk. Following her divorce, she swapped houses with Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears, moving to Crag House on the seafront, moving back in 1963 to live in a bungalow built for her next to The Red House.. Potter was given a major retrospective at the Tate Gallery in 1980 and at the Serpentine in the year of her death, when she also won the John Moores Prize.