Beatrix Potter







© National Portrait Gallery, London
- Buy a print
- Buy greetings card
- Use this image
- Share this
Beatrix Potter
by Delmar Banner
oil on canvas, 1938
29 1/2 in. x 24 1/2 in. (749 mm x 622 mm)
Given by Delmar Banner, 1948
Primary Collection
NPG 3635
On display in Room 19 on Floor 2 at the National Portrait Gallery
Sitterback to top
- (Helen) Beatrix Potter (later Heelis) (1866-1943), Children's writer, book illustrator and conservationist. Sitter in 7 portraits.
This portraitback to top
This portrait by her neighbour records Potter's role as a breeder of Herdwick sheep and a respected judge at agricultural shows.
Linked publicationsback to top
- I-Spy National Portrait Gallery, 2010, p. 45
- Smartify image discovery app
- 100 Writers, p. 101
- Bennett, Sue, Five Centuries of Women and Gardens, 2000 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 5 October 2000 to 21 January 2001), p. 140
- Ecclesshare, Julia, Beatrix Potter to Harry Potter: Portraits of Children's Writers, 2002 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 15 May to 26 August 2002), p. 13
- Edited by Rab MacGibbon and Tanya Bentley, Icons and Identities, 2021, p. 91
- Gibson, Robin, Treasures from the National Portrait Gallery, 1996, p. 113
- Rab MacGibbon, National Portrait Gallery: The Collection, p. 87
- Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 502
- Tremain, Rose (essay), BP Portrait Award 2010, 2010 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 24 June to 19 September 2010), p. 12
Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top
- Beatrix Potter to Harry Potter: Portraits of Children's Writers (15 May 2002 - 26 August 2002)
- Escape to Eden (5 October 2000 - 21 January 2001)
Subjects & Themesback to top
Events of 1938back to top
Current affairs
Britain pursues its policy of appeasement. At the Munich Agreement, Britain, France and Italy agreed to allow Hitler to seize the Sudetenland area of Czechoslovakia. The agreement was seen at the time as a triumph for peace, with Neville Chamberlain returning home brandishing the paper agreement and saying 'peace for our time.' Within six months Germany had occupied the rest of Czechoslovakia.Art and science
Graham Greene publishes Brighton Rock. The novel follows the descent of Pinky, a teenage gang leader in Brighton's criminal underworld. The book examines the criminal mind and explores the themes of morality and sin - recurrent concerns for the Roman Catholic Author.Glasgow hosts the Empire Exhibition; an £11 million celebration of the British Empire visited by 13 million people.
International
In its pursuit of 'Lebensraum' (living space), Germany annexes Austria and parts of Czechoslovakia with little opposition from the League of Nations. At home, the Nazis continued their escalating persecution of the Jews with 'Kristallnacht' (the Night of Broken Glass), attacking Jewish homes, shops, businesses and synagogues, and taking Jewish men to concentration camps.Tell us more back to top
Can you tell us more about this portrait? Spotted an error, information that is missing (a sitter’s life dates, occupation or family relationships, or a date of portrait for example) or do you know anything that we don't know? If you have information to share please complete the form below.
If you require information from us, please use our Archive enquiry service. You can buy a print of most illustrated portraits. Select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Buy a Print button. Prices start at £6 for unframed prints, £25 for framed prints. If you wish to license this image, please use our Rights and Images service.
Please note that we cannot provide valuations.
We digitise over 8,000 portraits a year and we cannot guarantee being able to digitise images that are not already scheduled.