Unseen Pollyanna Pickering paintings to go on display in Derbyshire exhibition

A display of paintings by the late wildlife artist Pollyanna Pickering – many unseen before – are to go on display for a week at the end of this month to mark the 40th anniversary of the charity which inspired much of the work of the Derbyshire painter. The Born Free Foundation was founded by actress and conservationist Dame Virginia McKenna and Ms Pickering’s art has helped to raise money for the charity over the years.

The collection of work will be displayed in an exhibition in Ms Pickering’s private gallery at Brookvale House, in Oaker near Matlock, from June 22 to 30. Admission is free. The connection with the charity began In 1987, just three years after the formation of Born Free, when Ms Pickering was invited to travel to India to sketch and paint five tigers which had been rescued from appalling conditions in a roadside circus in Kent.

She would go on to visit Born Free projects in South Africa and Ethiopia, and stage fund-raising exhibitions of the artwork inspired by her visits. She became a close friend of their founder Dame Virginia McKenna, bonding through their shared love of animals and passion for conservation. She created limited edition prints and Christmas cards for the charity, and donated original work to their fund raising auctions.

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Ms Pickering went on to paint a life sized lion Sculpture – which will also be on display at the exhibition in Matlock. Following her unexpected death in 2018, the charity named a rescued cheetah cub in her memory. She had already started work on a collection of paintings with the idea of staging an exhibition to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the charity in 2019 but of course this did not happen.

Her daughter, Anna-Louise, who is president of the Pollyanna Pickering Foundation, has since kept this collection of artwork in storage and it will now be shown exclusively for the first time in the forthcoming event. Additionally, a bequest from a collector of Pollyanna’s work has provided further paintings which have not been on public display for many years.

One of these paintings – Elsa’s Pride – has also been chosen as one of three limited edition prints to launched exclusively at the event, co-signed by Dame Virginia McKenna. Also on display throughout will be an extensive range of greetings cards, fine art and limited edition prints, and a wide variety of gift ware featuring her work – including stationery, china mugs, cross stitch kits, signed sets of her postage stamps issued in Africa, and first day covers for the Royal Mail. A sneak preview of next year’s charity Christmas cards and fine art calendars for 2025 will also be available.

A minimum of 10% of all sales throughout the exhibition will be donated to worldwide conservation projects through the Pollyanna Pickering Foundation. Tea and coffee will be available throughout. Full details and directions to the gallery can be found by clicking here.

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