Mary Potter (née Marian (Mary) Anderson Attenborough) attended Beckenham School of Art (1916–18) and the Slade School of Fine Art (1918–21), where she won first prize for portrait painting. Briefly a member of the Seven and Five Society she also exhibited with the NEAC and the LG. 

In 1927, she married the writer and radio producer Stephen Potter. They lived in Chiswick: many of her paintings from this period evolve around views from her studio window. After moving briefly to Manchester at the start of WWII, they rented Berwick Hall, Essex, until peace returned. 

In Essex and later in Aldeburgh, Suffolk, Potter focused more on atmosphere and light, and her work became increasingly abstract. 

She held numerous solo shows throughout her career, including at the Bloomsbury Gallery (1932), the Redfern Gallery, Arthur Tooth & Sons, Leicester Galleries, and – following a major retrospective at Whitechapel Art Gallery (1964) – the New Art Centre. Her final solo exhibition was at the Serpentine Gallery (1981).

See all works by Mary Potter >