Work of the Week | Mary Potter, Pale Colours, 1979
Mary Potter
Pale Colours
1979
Oil on board
48 x 73.5 cm
18 ⅞ x 29 in.
Pale Colours is the latest work of Mary Potter's currently on display in the main gallery in an exhibition showcasing over three decades of painting. Although her later work contrasts stylistically with her earlier figurative work, Potter’s colour palette remained consistent throughout her career. Pale hues of pink, green, and yellow were unified by the addition of white to each tone and she developed the habit of mixing her oil paints with beeswax and marble dust, to give her paintings a subtle, chalky quality.
The motif of the circle and leaf form are present, and despite the paintings lack of a direct light source, the centring of the circle with its bolder outline creates a focal point, evocative of the sun, a globe, a lamp or moon.
Pale Colours has been shown in several exhibitions, including an Exhibition of Paintings by Mary Potter, at the Thirty-third Aldeburgh Festival, Aldeburgh in 1980. In 1981, it was included in her retrospective exhibition, Mary Potter: Paintings 1922-80, at the Serpentine Gallery, London, and in 2024, Mary Potter: A Transformative Vision, at the New Art Centre, Salisbury.
Mary Potter's paintings will be on display in the Main Gallery until 14th June. To book a visit, or to find out more, please enquire below: