Mary Potter (nee Attenborough) is now recognised as one of the foremost British women painters of the twentieth century. After studying at Slade under Professor Tonks, she later developed a distinctive style and was not closely allied to any group or movement. Her paintings were matt oils on canvas and were usually preceded by watercolour sketches. Her subjects were landscapes, still lifes, portraits and, latterly, abstracts.
Mary Potter's elusive colours, fugitive shapes and textures convey the ephemeral quality of the air and light. Many of her pre-war paintings are of the Thames at Chiswick, as seen from her window, while her later work responds to the spare coastal landscape around Aldeburgh, Suffolk, where she lived for many years.
Her husband was Stephen Potter, author of Gamesmanship and Oneupmanship.