V&A and National Trust unite to explore Beatrix Potter legacy
THE Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) has joined forces with the National Trust for an exhibition telling the life story of author Beatrix Potter.
Drawn to Nature will feature more than 240 personal objects, including rarely seen letters, manuscripts, sketches, coded diaries and family photographs drawn from the two collections.
Potter, who lived between 1866 and 1943, remains well known for her children’s books featuring animals, such as The Tale Of Peter Rabbit, but was also a prominent natural scientist and conservationist.
Across four sections, the exhibition at the V&A in London will follow Potter’s journey from the capital to the Lake District, where she eventually settled.
The first section, Town and Country, will offer a backdrop to her childhood in South Kensington in London and feature key objects from Potter’s early years, including an album of family photographs taken by her father as well as artwork and furniture from the family home.
Under the Microscope, meanwhile, will highlight her interest in natural science.
Featured in the section will be a reimagining of the schoolroom she shared with her brother Bertram at Bolton Gardens in London, featuring some of their earliest observational sketches, from the schoolroom menagerie to a cabinet used to store their collection of butterflies, beetles, bird eggs, shells, rocks and fossils.
Potter had more than 92 pets during her lifetime and took inspiration from some of them for her stories, most notably her domesticated rabbits Benjamin Bouncer and Peter Piper.
A Natural Storyteller will look at her journey to becoming a bestselling author before Living Nature explores her life in the Lake District and celebrates her impact on the natural landscape.
In later life Potter became an award-winning sheep farmer and respected member of the local rural community in the Lake District.
■ Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature runs from February 12 2022 to January 8 2023