WORK OF THE WEEK: Mary Potter, Boat and Beach, c.1958

Mary Potter
Boat and Beach, c.1958
Oil on Canvas
40.6 x 45.5 cm
16 x 18 in.

The earliest painting in our exhibition, Boat and Beach is an example of Mary Potter's transition between figurative and abstract painting. After moving to Aldeburgh in 1951, she began to draw more from feeling and intuition, rather than literal representation. Her late style showed a renewed interest in light, inspired by the clear northern light offered by the Suffolk coast.

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.

Mary Potter: A Transformative Vision installed in the Stable Gallery.
Also shown: Katie Walker, Rietveld Love Seat, 2019, Oak, 77.5 x 115 x 54 cm
Hubert Dalwood, Double Bowl, 1962, Aluminium, 35.5 x 63.5 x 25.3 cm