Beatrix Potter fungi drawings from The Armitt to be displayed in the new V&A Exhibition
Written by John Williamson on 11/01/2022
Five of Beatrix Potter’s artworks from the archive of The Armitt: Museum, Gallery, Library will be displayed at the V&A this year, as part of the 2022 exhibition Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature (12 February 2022 – 8 January 2023).
The Armitt, located in Ambleside, has loaned five botanical drawings by Potter to the museum in London for their exhibition on her relationship to nature, which will open from 12th February 2022.
Beatrix Potter and her husband, William Heelis, became members of The Armitt in 1913, just one year after it was founded, so her story has been linked with the Ambleside institution since it began.
Potter became one of The Armitt’s most important benefactors, as her portfolios of natural history watercolours, her personal copies of her ‘little books’, and her mycological studies were donated to the museum and library in 1946, three years after her death.
A rotating selection of Beatrix Potter’s works have been regularly on display at The Armitt for locals and visitors alike to enjoy.
“We are thrilled to have a group of Beatrix Potter’s artworks from The Armitt’s archive going on display as part of this national exhibition”, said the Manager & Curator, Faye Morrissey. “We hope that many who visit the V&A’s exhibition will be inspired to come to the Lake District, to find out more about Beatrix’s life, and to gain a sense of the landscape and place to which she became so intrinsically linked.”
Visitors to Ambleside can still see Beatrix Potter’s artworks at The Armitt, both during and after the V&A’s exhibition, by visiting the museum and library on Rydal Road, Ambleside, when it reopens on 16 February 2022, Wednesday to Saturday, 10:30am to 4:30pm.
