Beatrix Potter, the beloved English illustrator and author who crafted the “Tale of Peter Rabbit” series, is one of the world’s best-selling children’s authors. She wrote and illustrated 28 books, of which 23 Tales have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. She built a retail empire out of her creations, earning her a net worth of more than $500 million today
Potter, who was born in 1866 in West Brompton in London, England, grew up in an upper-middle-class household. Though she grew up isolated from other children and was educated by a governess, as was typical of the time, she developed a deep love for nature and she consistently studied and painted flora and fauna.
Both of Potter’s parents were artistically inclined, and her father was an amateur photographer. During her youth, Potter was raised by three governesses, the last of whom Annie Moore was only three years older than Potter. The two remained close, and Moore’s children received numerous letters and designs from Potter over the years. It was Moore who suggested that these works would make a good children’s book.
Potter’s family encouraged her to pursue higher education, despite the fact that women of her time were privately educated and rarely went to university. Potter was deeply interested in virtually every field of study in natural science aside from astronomy. She collected fossils, studied artifacts, and became interested in entomology, the study of insects, and mycology, the study of fungi.
Over time, Potter’s drawing skills increased and her interest deepend even more when she met Charles McIntosh, a revered naturalist and mycologist. He gave invaluable lessons to Potter, increasing her skill and accuracy in her illustrations, and encouraged her to continue her studies.
However, during Potter’s lifetime, sexism and prejudice prevented Potter from being taken seriously. She was issued posthumous apologies for her treatment by the Linnean Society.
Inspired by fairy tales and fantasy, she was a longtime fan of Aesop’s Fables, Hans Christian Andersen, Shakespeare, and Lewis Carroll. Through her exposure to these works, Potter began studying book illustration from an early age. She began designing and producing Christmas cards in the 1890s, often featuring mice and rabbits.
In 1893, Potter wrote a story about four young rabbits and sent it to her former-governess-turned-friend Anne Carter Moore. At Moore’s suggestion, she revised the story into a book that she published for family and friends at her own expense in 1901. After seeing the dummy book that she created, Frederick Warne & Co. eventually sought her out to publish the book as an attempt to compete in the children’s book market.
On Oct. 2, 1902, “The Tale of Peter Rabbit” was published and received immediate acclaim. The following year, she produced “The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin’ and “The Tailor of Gloucester.” Her non-didactic (meaning not educational) writing, joyful and lively illustrations, and the imaginative qualities of her characters earned her a spot as one of the most beloved children’s book authors and illustrators of all time.
So, when the High Museum of Art was planning their next installment for their Picture Book Series of exhibitions, they couldn’t have chosen a better artist to showcase than Beatrix Potter.
On display at the High Museum of Art from Oct. 13 through Jan. 7, 2024, the Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature exhibition features a number of notable works from the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
Included in the exhibition are personal objects including sketches, journals, paintings, letters, publications, and merchandise. Visitors to this exhibition will come away from the experience with a greater understanding of Potter’s longstanding commitment to botany and the study of nature and how that influenced and informed her beloved children’s books.
