Rare work by Derbyshire's late wildlife artist Pollyanna Pickering to be shown in Around The World In 80 Paintings exhibition

Eighty original paintings, including several that have never previously been viewed by the public, will go on show at Brookvale House, Oaker, near Matlock from June 25.

The only wildlife artist in the world to have painted on all seven continents, Pollyanna travelled by dog sled in the High Arctic, camped on the ice at temperatures of -40. On expedition she canoed through crocodile infested rivers, came face to face with wild komodo dragons, and was charged by a wild tiger in search of her subjects!

Paintings of tigers from India and Siberia, African lions and the jaguars of the Brazilian rainforest alongside Rwandan mountain gorillas and wolves from Transylvania will feature in the exhibition. A selection of Pollyanna’s own reference sketches, created in the field, will be released for this exhibition, alongside paintings from her private collection.

Her daughter Anna-Louise Pickering, a photographer who accompanied Pollyanna on expeditions, said: “I am very proud to stage this exhibition in Pollyanna's private gallery. This collection of paintings will celebrate a lifetime of intrepid journeys which resulted in a heartfelt and unique legacy of artwork.

"I was incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to work alongside Pollyanna documenting her expeditions - and I travelled to parts of the world I never thought I would visit - from the High Arctic to the Himalayas! However the expeditions were not without their moments of danger. We were jolted, rattled, scratched, cut bruised and bitten – and even charged by a wild tiger. I have had one or two scary moments while travelling to search for endangered wildlife but I have never experienced fear like looking into the eyes of a snarling spitting wild tiger from a distance of four feet!

“The artwork on display at this anniversary exhibition shows an incredibly diverse range of subject matter and technique – but every single sketch painting and reflects the beauty and fragility of the natural world.”

Two new limited edition prints will be exclusively launched during the exhibition, which runs until July 3.

Also on display throughout will be Pollyanna’s extensive ranges 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 A sneak preview of next year’s charity Christmas cards will also be available. A minimum of ten percent of all sales throughout the exhibition will be donated to worldwide conservation projects through the Pollyanna Pickering Foundation.

Anna-Louise added: “Pollyanna always said that as a wildlife artist she had the best job in the world - and my focus is now primarily on continuing the work of the charitable foundation which Pollyanna established and which bears her name. This event will hopefully help us to continue our support for global conservation projects including funding the care of rescued moonbears in Vietnam and protecting lions and elephants from poaching in Kenya.”