Work of the Week | Mary Potter

This week the New Art Centre is spotlighting the life and work of Mary Potter (1900-1981), whose paintings are currently on display in The Artist’s House. In 1918, one month before the end of the First World War, Potter began her career at The Slade, where she studied under Philip Wilson Steer and Henry Tonks, who were both members of the New English Art Club. The influence of Steer, particularly his use of colour and more Impressionist style, can be detected throughout Mary Potter’s work. Steer taught Potter alongside the Professor of Fine Art, Henry Tonks, who favoured realism, ‘demanding that students should look hard at the object before them and depict exactly what they saw' (Julian Potter, 1998). As a result, Potter’s early works, painted in the wake of her time at The Slade, have a more representational focus than her later pieces, which steadily moved towards increasingly abstract compositions.

Mary Potter
Still Life with Lamp, 1979
Oil on canvas
61 x 71 cm
24 x 28 in.

Mary Potter
Grasses and Shadows, 1973
Oil on canvas
76.2 x 71 cm
30 x 28 in.

The paintings on display at Roche Court were painted between 1958 and 1979, showcasing over two decades of the artist’s work. Despite Tonks' insistence on the use of a darker palette, there is a luminous quality that is consistent throughout Potter’s painting, which was achieved by mixing chalk dust into her oil paint. It is only fitting that these Mary Potter pieces should be on display in The Artist’s House, the design of which was inspired in part by Kettle's Yard, as we are delighted to be supporting ‘Artists for Kettle’s Yard’ by donating one of our Mary Potter pieces ‘View from a Window’ (1942).

Mary Potter
View from a Window, 1942
Oil on Canvas
48.3 x 38.1 cm
19 x 15 in.

‘Artists for Kettle’s Yard’ is a sale of artwork gifted by donors to support The Jim and Helen Ede Fund Endowment Campaign ahead of Kettle’s Yard’s 70th anniversary in 2027. The campaign has been launched in order to strengthen the foundations of Kettle's Yard, to ensure that it can continue its work with artists, visitors and the local community. To view a selection of highlighted works that will be for sale, including ‘View from a Window’, please click on the link below. The exhibition will be launched, and the full list of works will be available for sale, in March 2026.

‘View from a Window’ is a typical composition of Potter’s, who often painted scenes through windows, particularly those in her own studio. ‘Evening in the Snow’ (1979) was painted late in the artist’s life, during her time at the Red Studio. Red Studio was commissioned in 1963 for Mary Potter, and is located in the grounds of the home of Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears, who were her good friends. The contrast between the loose mark making, and more chalky palette, of ‘Evening in the Snow’, painted so late in the artist’s career, contrasts with the deeper palette and firmer lines of ‘View from a Window’, granting us an insight into the development of Potter’s painting over the course of her lifetime.

Mary Potter
Evening in the Snow, 1979
Oil on canvas
76 x 61 cm
30 x 24 in.