Still life study of a pineapple, basket of cherries and lizard
Watercolour
June 1883 (made)
June 1883 (made)
| Artist/Maker |
Essentially self-taught, the young Beatrix Potter copied from nature or from books and drawing manuals, and studied the works of Constable, Gainsborough and Turner in the Royal Academy exhibitions. She was grateful that her education was largely neglected, ‘it would have rubbed off some of the originality.’ However, it was customary for girls of Beatrix’s social class to be proficient at the genteel arts, including painting and drawing, so from November 1878 to May 1883 the Potters arranged drawing lessons for Beatrix and enrolled her at the new National Art Training School in South Kensington to sit her Second Grade Art Student Certificate.
This generic student piece is competent enough. Beatrix was even awarded an ‘Excellent’ in her examinations at the National Art Training School. However, her drawings from this period convey a dark and listless formality that seems in retrospect to be at odds with the light humour and exuberance of her imaginative book illustrations. Beatrix remained sceptical of the value of formal art training: ‘Painting is an awkward thing to teach except the details of the medium. If you and your master are determined to look at nature and art in two different directions you are sure to stick.’
This generic student piece is competent enough. Beatrix was even awarded an ‘Excellent’ in her examinations at the National Art Training School. However, her drawings from this period convey a dark and listless formality that seems in retrospect to be at odds with the light humour and exuberance of her imaginative book illustrations. Beatrix remained sceptical of the value of formal art training: ‘Painting is an awkward thing to teach except the details of the medium. If you and your master are determined to look at nature and art in two different directions you are sure to stick.’
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Still life study of a pineapple, basket of cherries and lizard (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Watercolour over pencil on paper |
| Physical description | Recto: Watercolour and pencil drawing on paper of a partial view of a large pineapple on the left, a rush basket of cherries and leaves in the centre and a partial view of a lizard on the right. All sit on a rush matting on a table. Verso: rough sketches in pencil at various angles, few decipherable. |
| Dimensions |
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| Production type | Unique |
| Marks and inscriptions | 'June 1883' (Inscription by Beatrix Potter in pencil on verso) |
| Credit line | Given by the Linder Collection |
| Object history | Given by Leslie Linder (1904-1973) to the National Book League (now the Book Trust) in 1970 as part of a representative selection of Beatrix Potter's work. This selection, comprising 279 drawings and 38 early editions and now known as the Linder Collection, was formerly on long-term loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum between 1989 and 2019 form the charitable trust, The Linder Trust. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Literary reference | 'Small dinner, am painting the pineapple, etc. Mr. Halliday was cutting it up on a plate behind me. I felt fit to kick under my chair. I thought there would be none left'. (Beatrix Potter's Journal, 21 June 1883). |
| Summary | Essentially self-taught, the young Beatrix Potter copied from nature or from books and drawing manuals, and studied the works of Constable, Gainsborough and Turner in the Royal Academy exhibitions. She was grateful that her education was largely neglected, ‘it would have rubbed off some of the originality.’ However, it was customary for girls of Beatrix’s social class to be proficient at the genteel arts, including painting and drawing, so from November 1878 to May 1883 the Potters arranged drawing lessons for Beatrix and enrolled her at the new National Art Training School in South Kensington to sit her Second Grade Art Student Certificate. This generic student piece is competent enough. Beatrix was even awarded an ‘Excellent’ in her examinations at the National Art Training School. However, her drawings from this period convey a dark and listless formality that seems in retrospect to be at odds with the light humour and exuberance of her imaginative book illustrations. Beatrix remained sceptical of the value of formal art training: ‘Painting is an awkward thing to teach except the details of the medium. If you and your master are determined to look at nature and art in two different directions you are sure to stick.’ |
| Bibliographic reference | 'Anne Stevenson Hobbs (compiler), The Linder Collection of the works and drawings of Beatrix Potter : catalogue of works on paper, London, 1999'
Brief catalogue entry, no. 1.14. |
| Other numbers |
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| Collection | |
| Library number | LC 1/A/3 |
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| Record created | September 16, 2010 |
| Record URL |
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