Mary Potter (nŽ e 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).