The Art Of Beatrix Potter

Published to coincide with the 150th anniversary of Beatrix Potter's birth, this magnificent collection celebrates the artist behind The Tale of Peter Rabbit and numerous other beloved children's books. Brimming with famous images and rarely seen gems—ranging from character sketches and notebook pages to watercolor landscapes and natural history illustrations—this monograph explores Potter's artistic process and reveals the places that inspired her timeless work. Organized geographically and featuring more than 200 images from the artist's oeuvre, The Art of Beatrix Potter includes illuminating essays by Potter scholar Linda Lear, illustration historian Steven Heller, and children's book illustrator Eleanor Taylor. It is the definitive volume on one of the world's most influential authors, a woman whose artistry, until now, has not been fully celebrated.

2016 marks the 150th birthday of Beatrix Potter, making it the perfect time to pay tribute to the beloved author/illustrator with A Celebration of Beatrix Potter! With illustrious tales of characters like Peter Rabbit, Squirrel Nutkin, and Jemima Puddle-Duck, Beatrix Potter established herself as one of the most cherished and influential author/illustrators of children's literature. To mark her milestone birthday, this gorgeous collection features beautiful illustrations of Potter's characters, as interpreted by well-known illustrators. Each illustration is accompanied by text from the artist explaining what that character means to them, making this a true celebration of Beatrix Potter. Praise for A Celebration of Beatrix Potter: "How delightful to see Peter Rabbit, Mr. McGregor, Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, and company portrayed in various and unique styles. Excerpts from and introductory descriptions of nine of Potter’s books round out this superb collection... This 150th anniversary celebration of the life and work of Beatrix Potter will encourage aspiring young artists to carry on her legacy."–Linda L. Walkins, School Library Journal, Starred Review

Collection of 200 lesser known illustrations

This beautiful book explores the beloved writer’s achievements as a storyteller, artist, and naturalist. Beatrix Potter’s universe of characters—Peter Rabbit, Squirrel Nutkin, Jemima Puddleduck—have delighted audiences for over a century. A creative pioneer and determined entrepreneur, she combined scientific observation with imaginative storytelling to create some of the world’s best-loved children’s books. This volume showcases Potter’s charming charac-ters against the backdrop of her exquisite botanical drawings, humorous illustrated letters to friends, Lake District landscapes, and rarely seen photographs. Beatrix Potter’s endearingly hand-painted world of animals and gardens made her one of the most celebrated children’s book authors of all time, yet this is but one facet of her creative life. Drawn to the picturesque English countryside after a London childhood, Potter had a passion for nature that influenced her many achievements as a naturalist, artist, storyteller, and later in life as a fervent conservationist and “gentlewoman” farmer. This book sheds light upon the connections between her art, entrepreneurial success, and legacy in preservation.

Tea with a hedgehog and supper with a rabbit? Beatrix Potter entertained guests that most people--certainly Beatrix Potter's proper Victorian parents--would have thought belonged in a meadow, not in a London nursery. Such unlikely companions were company for lonely Beatrix, and she spent much of her time sketching and making up stories about these small creatures. Beatrix was so well acquainted with the characters of her various animal friends that when she was older it seemed natural to write and illustrate small books about their delightful adventures. Generations of children all over the world have gotten to know and love Beatrix Potter's animal friends--Benjamin Bunny, Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, Squirrel Nutkin, Peter Rabbit, and many more. David Collins's lively text and Karen Ritz's striking illustrations combine to tell the wonderful tale of this gentle, creative woman who had a special feeling not only for animals, but also for children.

“Sumptuous...a fitting legacy for a pioneering conservationist who helped save thousands of acres of the Lake District” – The Mail on Sunday, August 2016 To this day, Beatrix Potter’s tales delight children and grown-ups around the world. But few people realise how extraordinary her own story is. She was a woman of contradictions. A sheltered Victorian daughter who grew into an astute modern businesswoman. A talented artist who became a scientific expert. A famous author who gave it all up to become a farmer. In The Story of Beatrix Potter, Sarah Gristwood follows the twists and turns of Beatrix Potter’s life and its key turning points – including her tragically brief first engagement and happy second marriage late in life. She traces the creation of Beatrix’s most famous characters – including the naughty Peter Rabbit, confused Jemima Puddleduck and cheeky Squirrel Nutkin – revealing how she drew on her unusual childhood pets and locations in her beloved Lake District. She explores too, the last 30 years of Potter’s life, when she abandoned books to become a working farmer and a pioneering conservationist, whose work with the National Trust helped to save thousands of acres of the Lake District – a legacy that, like her books, continues to enrich our lives today. Main text: 30,000 words. Approx 3,000 words for captions and index.

In this remarkable biography, Linda Lear offers a new look at the extraordinary woman who gave us some of the most beloved children's books of all time. Potter found freedom from her conventional Victorian upbringing in the countryside. Nature inspired her imagination as an artist and scientific illustrator, but The Tale of Peter Rabbit brought her fame, financial success, and the promise of happiness when she fell in love with her editor Norman Warne. After his tragic and untimely death, Potter embraced a new life as the owner of Hill Top Farm in the English Lake District and a second chance at happiness. As a visionary landowner, successful farmer and sheep-breeder, she was able to preserve the landscape that had inspired her art. Beatrix Potter: A Life in Nature reveals a lively, independent and passionate woman, whose art was timeless, and whose generosity left an indelible imprint on the countryside.

A revealing and surprising biography of the woman who defied Victorian expectations and gave the world Peter Rabbit. Beatrix Potter’s children’s books have enchanted generations of young readers who adored the characters she created as well as her distinctive illustrations. Born into a typically repressed Victorian family, Beatrix was expected to achieve little more than finding herself a rich husband, and thus her parents felt there was no point in bothering to educate her. But the Potters underestimated their daughter. Stifled by the lack of stimulation, she educated herself in art and science, and developed a great love of the natural world. The success of The Tale of Peter Rabbit proved her to be creative genius who could have become the toast of the London literary scene—but when her fiancé tragically died, Beatrix retreated to the Lake District where she reinvented herself as a successful farmer, a canny businesswoman, and an early environmental pioneer. Passionately campaigning to save the area from development, she helped establish the National Trust, and despite her great wealth Beatrix lived out her days in humble anonymity. From a journalist who has authored biographies of Roald Dahl and A.A. Milne, this is an in-depth look at the woman behind the beloved books.

Chronicles the life of children's illustrator and author Beatrix Potter, examining how art influenced her young life.