Mary Potter, (British, 1900-1981)

Light Through Leaves

Light Through Leaves
oil on canvas
101.5 x 127cm (39 15/16 x 50in).
Painted in 1969

Provenance
With New Art Centre, London, where acquired by the present owner in 1972
Private Collection, U.K.

Exhibited
London, New Art Centre, Mary Potter, 6-29 November 1969, no. 1
Belfast, Ulster Museum, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Open Painting Exhibition, 30 April-6 June 1970
London, Serpentine Gallery, Arts Council of Great Britain, Mary Potter: Paintings 1922-80, 23 May-28 June 1981, no. 45
Welshpool, Oriel 31, Mary Potter: 1900-1981; A Selective Retrospective, 30 September-11 November 1989

The present work was inspired by the light coming through the beech hedge outside the Artist's large, north-facing studio window in winter. At the time, her studio was in the grounds of The Red House in Aldeburgh, her former home, which she exchanged with her friends Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears in November 1957; they had been friends for a few years and often played tennis together in the large garden. Pears and Britten commissioned Peter Collymore to build the studio for Potter in 1963.