Mary Newcomb:

Nature's Canvas

About the
exhibition

Natural scientist, farmer and artist, Mary Newcomb’s (1922-2008) life and art were rooted in everyday observation and the natural world. Featuring over fifty works, displayed alongside extracts from her writing and work by the artists that inspired her, Mary Newcomb: Nature’s Canvas was the most extensive survey of her work ever.

A self-taught artist who settled in rural East Anglia, Newcomb developed a unique visual language and poetic vision closely aligned with her writing. She was championed by art dealer Andras Kalman (the original collector of Compton Verney’s British Folk Art collection), who encouraged her to keep a diary. On New Year’s Day 1986, Newcomb wrote: ‘I wanted … to remind ourselves that – in our haste – in this century – we may not give time to pause and look – and may pass on our way unheeding.’

Deeply engrossed in the rituals of the unfolding seasons and the countryside around her, Newcomb’s beautiful and subtle art and writing foregrounds the pleasures of slow looking, and speaks to the deep connections we all make with nature.

In association with Crane Kalman Gallery, London