Night and Day

This delicately painted screen was commissioned by the composer, Benjamin Britten, and the singer, Peter Pears, for the library of the Red House in Aldeburgh. The artist's work was greatly admired by the composer, a close friend. This screen was one of the largest and most important works from the last, very productive period of her life. In it are united themes from interests of crucial significance to her work - light and nature and the art of the Far East. From the late 1950S, Mary Potter's work became more abstract and allusive though always stopping short of complete abstraction. However, the same themes explored in the early work, here exemplified by the low-key description of a simple domestic environment, remained constant.